There’s no denying that COVID-19 has completely shaken up the law firm landscape. Since the beginning of this crisis, law firm revenues have fallen 30%, greatly impacting profitability, partner profits, and overall, the ability to keep the lights on- bulletproof your firm’s strategic business plan

These are worrisome statistics. The whiteboard is set to be wiped clean right now. On January 1, 2021, law firms, attorneys, advocates and all that carry the legal cross will start from ground zero for the new year. Now is the time to get a business plan in place to secure your spot as a winner in 2021.

Before we ask about your law firm’s strategic business plan, let’s discuss what a Strategic Business Plan is.

A strategic business plan is a comprehensive outline of specific tactics to realize your firm’s goals. It consists of four key features:

• It must be strategic and it is in writing ( the vision must be clear)
• It must be actionable (the discipline of getting things done)
• It must be accountable.
• It is also measurable. (there must be metrics to every step)

Navigating through this the risks and uncertainties of business, will require a well-balanced strategy by leaders and management to create systems and infrastructure now, that will help them to survive and thrive into the future. Launching a successful strategy requires planning and executing specific tactics to realize your firm’s goals.

Your new whiteboard must address several crucial and specific elements that combine strategic research and business planning.

Your business plan needs to cover the intersection of management, marketing, mergers, technology and client service.

Before the success is the pain moment of addressing the needs and goals in order to set yourself up effectively for the future. Your research guides the foundation of the business plan, but there are specific questions you must answer to be successful.

Questions such as:

• What is the reality of your current situation and position?
• What are your goals? You need to truly articulate these.
• What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats?
• How can you increase your competitive edge?
• How can you improve your client relations? And how can you integrate new elements of client service? A handshake may need be replaced with a phone call and emails.
• What do your markets look like? Your prospects? Business development tactics?
• What do your budgets look like? Do you know what line items are needed? Do you know how much to allocate? Do you know why and what to look for?
• What metrics should you track: daily, weekly, monthly?
• What is your timeline for completing these changes?
• What are your criteria for success?

This may sound like a lot, but every single one of these questions and answers are critical. Most of your goals will require strategic planning and on-going execution of activities and are not specific project or product related at this point in time. Therefore, most of the heavy lifting is upfront with research, getting to know you and building the infrastructure, planning and budgeting. In essence, your research objectives should answer all of the above questions and more. It truly involves starting from “ground zero.”

Structuring Your Strategic Business Plan, requires insight into key issues such as:

• Mergers, Acquisitions and Recruiting
• Branding, Marketing, Business Development and Lead Generation
• Technology
• Client Service
• Market Analytics: You should obtain sophisticated data on your clients to

All need to be considered.  If not now when, if not you, who?

Now is your time to take the lead and take advantage of the competitive landscape.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

https://www.lawyermarketing.com/blog/using-the-2021-legal-planner-to-chart-a-course-to-the-future/

https://pherrmannlaw.com/strategic-business-planning/