Starting your own business and the long jump

In the long jump, the second to last step is referred to as the “penultimate step.” The penultimate step is when the jumper briefly dips down before exploding into the jump. As you already know, it’s impossible to jump with your legs kept straight. As with all things, before you go up, you have to dip down…just a tad. The penultimate step is the most important step in the jump and it’s the most important step before you can truly break free and start your own business/law practice.

Scale down, then scale up

When I talk with fellow attorneys that are close to squeezing the trigger and starting their own practice, I think of the importance of the penultimate step. As in the long jump, we all need to be willing to scale our lifestyles down in preparation for the big “jump.” I’m reminded of the quote, “Success can never be negotiated. Identify the price and pay it.” Well part of the price lies in your willingness to ramp things down for a bit. If someone is accustomed to making over $10K a month, and they’re married to that $10K a month lifestyle, their choices are completely limited in what they can do in the marketplace. With law, building a profitable practice takes time and it’s hard to make a painless transition from the securities of a law firm into the chaos of a competitive market. If you’re not willing to scale things down, it’s the equivalent of trying to negotiate down the price of success. It’s not going to happen. Leadership requires vision and part of vision is developing the courage to make the tough short term decisions for long term success. The penultimate step leads to a temporary slow down right before the explosion. I challenge you to make the tough decisions in 2010.

If I don’t speak with you between now and Christmas, Merry Christmas to you all. I love and respect all of you.

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