Relations required
Small firms have been facing both pressure to develop, and competition from all angles, for some years. The arrival of Covid-19 has only increased the pressure; many will be forced to adapt to survive and then thrive.
Most SMEs will have thought of their clients first – a laudable and appropriate response. However, survival will also require firms to focus on core business skills: we must first help ourselves to ensure that we can then help others.
There are three simple ways that small firms can focus on both their clients and their own businesses:
- Relationships – Much of legal practice is about the interaction of two or more people. These relationships are key to delivering great advice, and small firms have them at the heart of their businesses. Clients may equally be able to help their lawyers, and vice versa. Just asking is the key and making the connection the aim.
- Keep it analogue – Many smaller firms may not yet have invested in cloud-based IT systems or whizzy new apps to deliver services. And yet a telephone and a desire to help clients will go a very long way to preserving and protecting those relationships and the incomes they drive. Ask yourself how you can use analogue more effectively.
- Collaboration over competition – Not every firm has to have all the answers. In some cases, connecting with other firms and collaborating instead of competing may be the route to surviving. Better still, these links may lead to a stronger future. Does another firms have the tech you need? Do you have the lawyers they don’t?
Evolution is based on adaptation. Now, more than ever, businesses across the world are having to adapt. Some will fall, only to be re-born. Others will simply stop altogether. And yet, there is a real opportunity to be the change and not a victim of it.
