WHAT DOES BEING A PROFIT FIRST CERTIFIED LAWYER MEAN FOR ME?
Becoming a Profit First Certified Lawyer does four very important things for you:
1) Adds a profitable new service to your firm.
2) Helps you get your financial house in order, so that you can focus more on your clients, which will make them very happy!
3) Reforms your relationship with your clients, with a programmed, natural method to become closer to them, and what they need, which adds to their profit … and yours.
4) Adds a new, robust source of referrals to your law firm.
WHY DO WE CALL THIS “PROFIT FIRST?”
What is Profit First?
Before going into great detail, I do want to address this concept of “Profit First.” Why do we call this “Profit First?”
It goes way beyond the obvious answer … that we have built this business in alignment with the concepts of the book by Michael Michaelowicz, and work closely with his team and his members across the country who refer business to Profit First Certified Lawyers (PFCLs). It means that we help our clients, and help ourselves, get back to the purpose of our business.
Profit First means:
That we help our clients who are business owners align their business goals and results with their values.
- This includes why they went into business in the first place, and what the business is supposed to do for them!
- The business should give them more in value than they give to the business … plain and simple.
- If their business fails to do that … when business owners give more in value to their businesses than they receive in value … they haven’t really built themselves a business. We have a word for that kind of relationship with a business. It is called a JOB!
That we lead by example. As their lawyers, our clients want to think of us as their trusted advisors. As a profession, we have strayed from this role, and become more and more transactional over the years. Our clients have problems, and we position ourselves to solve them.
- As with any trusted advisor, our clients want to believe that we practice what we preach. For some, reforming their business will take a great leap of faith. That is easier when you believe your advisor has been willing to do the same.
- As a professional, charged with looking out for the best interests of our clients, we have an obligation to be able to be focused on their problems, their opportunities, their risks and their optimized outcomes. It is difficult to do this when we are overly concerned about our own business performance, and whether we will be able to meet our own financial obligations. Adopting Profit First in our business makes it far more certain that we can do just that.
Profit First allows us to put our clients interests first!
WHAT DOES IT DO FOR MY CLIENTS?
What does it do for my clients?
Even though many Business Owners haven’t thought much recently about what the business is supposed to do for them, they will understand that you, their Profit First Certified Lawyer, understand that any business exists to serve its owner.
- the financial means to live life the way s/he truly wants to;
- the time to work on the business, not just in it;
- the time to focus on the parts of his/her life that are important to him/her; and
- the professional pride in the contribution the business makes to the world
then the business is not serving the owner.
Together with you, we will work with the business owner to clearly define, for you, and for the business owner, how they define success in these terms. Then, we will create a plan for how their business will proceed during the coming 1-2 years. We will work closely with their bookkeeper and accountant (or help them find good ones, using the Profit First Professional referral network) to set up regular, monthly, reporting to us and to the owner to make sure they are keeping good track of their financials, and are securing the profits they need for their life.
In essence, together we will help your clients be more profitable people, in every sense of the word.
HOW DO I GET STARTED?
Getting Started
You already have!
If, you have decided to become a Profit First Certified Lawyer, your next step is to book yourself to a Certification class. The prerequisites are that you:
1) Have at least some clients who are business owners. This does not mean that you must be a “Business Lawyer.”
2) Commit to attend a Profit First Certified Lawyer Certification class. We typically schedule one per quarter, and they fill up fast, so please select one that works for you.
a. We will ask you for a deposit. This deposit is refundable if you cancel or re-schedule within 2 weeks of the date.
b. We request two full days of your attention. We will give you breaks, but request that you show up on time, and not plan to leave early.
HOW DO I LEARN MORE?
If you have further questions, please feel free to schedule a time to speak with us, and get your questions answered.
