Making Payroll

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“We’re not going to make payroll.”

It was 2011 and I was a named partner at the newishly named law firm of Fluet Huber + Hoang. I had convinced the two other named partners to add me to the letterhead with the promise that I would lead law firm marketing and business development and take it to the next level.??

Over a year later, the law firm’s business was in a valley and we found ourselves in a cash flow crunch.? Instead of making money, the equity partners would have to write personal checks into the firm in order to make payroll.?

What I did then

We buckled down.? Every cent of cash expenditure required managing partner approval.? Our CFO did backflips with accounts payables while trying to get every receivable in as soon as possible.? I spent every waking moment managing our new client funnel while nurturing existing clients and billing.? I had never been as stressed up to that point as an entrepreneur.?

The stress was heightened by feeling that I was an imposter.? I had never before been an entrepreneur and had never done BD and marketing, let alone led BD and marketing for a new venture.? I had the sinking feeling in my gut that I didn’t know what I was doing and the world was about to find me out.?

What I would do today

There are so many more resources for an entrepreneur today than there was 13 years ago, especially for veterans.??

I could turn to any number of veteran entrepreneurship organizations: Bunker Labs , Institute for Veterans and Military Families - IVMF , VetsinTech , among others.?

I could connect with fellow lawyers in social media groups, masterminds, and?meet-ups that were nascent or non-existent back then.?

And, of course, I can now turn to Generative AI tools, which excel at brainstorming and role-based conversations.? Here's some examples:? 10 Ways Law Firms Can Use Generative AI (That Don't Involve Legal Research and Writing).

What was the result

My fellow equity owners and I only had to write checks for a month. The firm’s revenue went out of a valley, entered a plateau (break-even), then began to rise. (As the saying goes, every overnight success is years in the making).? Today, Fluet is the premier law firm for the national security, aerospace, defense, and intelligence sectors and employs over 30 attorneys and staff serving thousands of clients across the Nation (link).

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