4 lessons from 4 years in business

I can hardly believe it, but SoundLegal turned 4 last month.

I’ve been a contract lawyer for 13 years and I thought I knew most of what there is to know about contracts. But being a business owner has taught me plenty of lessons about business contracts and management. This month, I’m sharing my top 4.

1. Contract templates save the day and bring in the money

When I started SoundLegal, I had zero sales experience. I found it hard to ask clients to give me money.

People would ask me for a quote, and I’d fluff about, telling them all the things I could do for them to delay getting to the point of “here’s what I sell, and here’s how much it costs”. But no one wants to wait a week for a quote. They’ll just go somewhere else.

Luckily, I came to my senses. I developed some template emails and costs agreements. That means I can get a quote out within 24 hours of an enquiry, with a costs agreement attached. It saves time for me and time for the client, and my quote gets to the client when they are most motivated to make a buying decision.

Business Tip 1: Develop a suite of simple, plain English quotation and contract templates. Your quotes will go out quicker and be more likely to convert.

2. More is more when it comes to detail in the scope

All that fluffing about sometimes meant I wasn’t clear about what was included in my price. Despite lecturing clients about?scope creep, I didn’t practise what I preached. As I work on fixed fees, it meant my margin was eaten away in extra revisions and long waits for client inputs.

Thankfully I realised that the more detailed the scope (including clear assumptions and exclusions), the happier the client… and the healthier my margin.

Business Tip 2:?Be specific and detailed about what is in and outside of scope. This helps manage client expectations, resulting in better project outcomes and a happier client. Plus, more profit! Win-win.

3. Stay in your zone of genius to make more profit

Like many new business owners, when I started SoundLegal I was nervous about being “too niche”. I said yes to almost every project, even if it was something I didn’t know much about.

On the upside, I did some really fun projects. Not many construction lawyers can say they’ve drafted a suite of contracts for a wedding planning company!

The downside however was the disproportionate time required to get up to speed on new industries and markets. It spelled doom for my margins.

Business Tip 3:?Say no to out-of-zone projects, to create room for work that falls within your expertise. Projects that are in your sweet spot can be done faster and more profitably. Plus, referring projects to someone who is a better fit helps reinforce your professional network. And on that note…

4. There's plenty of work for everyone and what goes around comes around

Early on, I was protective of my hard-won clients. I felt nervous about referring them off to other professionals. I suppose I was worried they might not come back.

That’s not my natural mindset, however. I’m a born optimist. Soon enough I realised that there is plenty of work for everyone, and what goes around comes around. If I refer work to my referral partners, they will refer work back to me. Now my network is thriving, and when my clients need something I can’t provide I have trusted partners that I know will look after them.

Business Tip 4:?Develop a healthy referral network. Warm leads are easier to convert and more likely to be a good fit for your business and the services it offers.

Learn from my lessons

I am so excited to see where the next 4 years will take SoundLegal. No doubt there will be plenty of lessons for me, and I look forward to sharing them.

In the meantime, do you want to action any of my tips?

Reach out?if you would like us to help you develop some contract templates or give you some advice about scope. Or if you’d like to grab a coffee and see if our networks overlap!

About Gemma

I help construction, engineering and consulting businesses create and negotiate clear contracts so they can make more profit and achieve great project outcomes.

I founded?SoundLegal?to help SMEs in the engineering, construction, consulting and light industrial sectors manage their risk to support business growth, by finding practical, common sense solutions to contractual and other legal challenges.

Subscribe to the SoundLegal newsletter “No Jargon”?to hear monthly business insights from me.

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