Work On, Not Just In, Your Business

This directive of working "on" your business rather than "in" your business has been around for awhile. I was not the creator of the concept, and I surely will not be the last to tout its importance. My personal experience suggests it is easier said than done, especially where you excel at or enjoy doing the tasks that the business needs. However, as my career has grown and role with my law firm has changed, so too has my comfortability with leaning into working on the business.

To those grinding away on delivering quality products and services, such as founders and small business operators, it can seem daunting to do anything other than deliver on the core business offering. Heck, isn't that the job? For leaders of organizations, and those who progress through an organization, however, the transition to working on the business rather than in the business is essential. Heck, isn't that the dream? I now, in fact, evangelize, so to speak, its importance to other law firm leaders since I believe in the necessity of that transition. I was even featured by the State Bar of Texas in hopes of helping others do just that, particularly with respect to law firm management. See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e64SqFFbE1o

What does working on your business entail? Here are some examples:

1. Setting a Vision. Identify a plan (1, 3, or even longer years) and then work backwards to identify tasks, assign accountability for accomplishment of those tasks, and keep a scorecard to manage issues that arise en route to achieving the planned goals.
2. Living a Culture. Establish Core Values, hire to them, fire based upon them, and remain true to them in your business decision-making.
3. Business Development. The lifeblood of any organization is its ability to generate revenue, which comes from new and existing business. Businesses need clients, and those people that are leading growth prioritize the development of, fostering of, and maintenance of relationships.
4. Grow the Team. Train and delegate, and along the way prioritize your people who are in the business daily in order to deliver to customers and generate that revenue. This means professional and personal growth, genuine interest in well-being and empathy.
5. Document. Memorializing key processes and procedures accomplishes several things, with two important items being (a) the identification of ways to improve efficiencies and (b) the peace of mind in the event an employee with responsibility for something is no longer around.

All too often I see fellow advisors and others stuck because they are unable to work on their businesses. Stagnation results. Frustrations increase. Opportunities are missed. It does not have to be so. Ultimately, start small, perhaps adding a time-block for "On Business" in your calendar, and you too can make progress to transition from solely being "in" the business to, hopefully, being on top of your business.