The Business Plan

The first point to consider in constructing a business plan is that if you were doing the hiring what would you want to see from a senior lawyer/partner. Generally this will be an analysis of your own financial performance both historic and projected. In an ideal world you should be able to provide figures for the previous 3 years segmented by client and matter and be able to distinguish billings attributable to you but handled by your team. It is also useful to be able to point to the origins of instructions (i.e. did they come to you direct or as a result of being a client of the firm). It is important to be able to do this as it will help in calculating figures regarding future potential financial performance. Being able to project future billings is perhaps the most critical aspect of the business plan and law firms are likely to be unimpressed by wildly optimistic/pessimistic claims.

The key components of any business plan comprise the following:-

Objectives
You will need to be able to identify the key objectives for the department/office that you intend to join and set down the strategies which will achieve those objectives.

The Competition
You will need to be aware of your major competitors and be able to differentiate your department/group from your competitors in order to be able to give you a competitive advantage.

Markets
You will need to be aware of the issues impacting on the demand for legal services/opportunities in your market place and be able to identify specific geographic markets that the department intends to service or capture during the next financial year and beyond. This will encompass current and new markets.

Clients
You will need to identify say the 5 most important existing client/contacts/referrers of work etc and the basis on which they might refer work to you and how existing and future relationships will be consolidated and developed. Identify those clients for whom the firm already acts and which offer the greatest potential for future development. You will need to give some thought as to how you intend to develop those relationships on behalf of your new firm. You will also need to identify a realistic number of new client/targets for the first 12 months and beyond. It is also worth giving some thought to whether you can develop specific action plans for some of the highest priority target clients.

Key Points

Business Initiatives
Give some thought to what specific marketing initiatives will be undertaken during the next financial year including membership of organisations, conferences, networking, sponsorships, visits, publication of articles, entertainment and corporate hospitality etc. Furthermore, evaluate the potential expenditure for these events.

The Financials
Give some thought to revenue projections by key clients for the first 12 months after joining the firm and revenue projections for the present department/group as a whole for the next 2 years. Consider work in progress that might accompany you e.g. if a litigator - cases that are so complex or have been running for so long that the client would want to move with you rather than remain with your current firm etc