Desperation from Day One May Not Be a Bad Idea

Carolyn Elefant, of My Shingle fame, had a post a few years ago that I ran across only recently. She titled it Are You Desperate Enough to Succeed as a Solo? She wrote, in part:

[I]f you want to succeed in starting a law firm, desperation, or more accurately, the willingness to do something absolutely desperate to bail out a case or save your firm can serve you well. I was reminded of the power of desperation when I read this article about a woman who dove into a disgusting fast food dumpster to salvage her thesis. Yes, she should have had a back up copy so the mess was partly her fault anyway. But sometimes in the practice of law, things go wrong despite our best efforts . . . We can allow our desperation to overcome us - or like the dumpster-diving grad student, we can use our desperation to overcome our circumstances. It's been my experience that the solo and small firm lawyers who've got it in them to take the latter path almost always succeed.

Now, desperation is a quality I currently possess in spades. And I am doing my utmost to get it to help me overcome my present circumstances.

But I think one key to success may be to start feeling desperate about the survival of your firm from the day you open your doors. Not so desperate that you project desperation, because that will just scare away prospective clients and referring lawyers. But just desperate enough to drive you harder than you might normally operate would be a good thing.

I spent a lot of time trying to build relationships (at the expense of more advertising or other "direct" marketing), and everything I read said it would take time for those relationships to bear fruit. With a few exceptions, I'm still waiting. Relationship-building is not for the desperate. Desperation calls for more direct approaches, I think.

It will be easier for you to act desperate if you abhor debt and you don't want to see your savings dwindle. Don't think of your savings or a line of credit as a cushion. Think of them as emergency rations to be eaten only after you are stranded, then do everything humanly possible not to get stranded, and if you do get stranded, make it as temporary a situation as possible.

Perhaps the mindset is well illustrated by a different BigLaw colleague of mine, who always lived at the limit of his means. A nicer house, cars, etc. than he could really afford. He said the lack of a cushion spurred him to greater success. That just may be the trick. Pretend you're him.

It was also expressed well in point no. 7 of a 7-point guide to overcoming fear of failure at PickTheBrain, which was linked to by Build a Solo Practice, LLC:

7. Burn the boats - When ancient Greek armies traveled across the sea to do battle, the first thing they would do after landing was to burn the boats, leaving them stranded. With no way to make it home besides victory, the resolve of the soldiers was strengthened. When success and failure are the only options, you have no choice but to follow through.

Except I am recommending only that you to act as if your boats are burned, not to actually do it.

And for a contrary view on burning one's boats, read the first comment at the PickTheBrain post. By the way, I only spent a few minutes over at PickTheBrain's blog, but from what I saw, it looks like an excellent blog to follow for personal motivation and peodctivity tips, both of which will be important when opening your practice.