Frustration

From the spouse's side I find it very challenging to be continuously supportive when my husband is facing frustration with getting the practice off the ground. It's not that I am not supportive, I am. It's more that I get frustrated too. I worry, just as he does, about bringing in clients, building the practice, marketing, etc. I don't feel free to express those concerns because I feel that I must be a rock for him at home, someone he can confide in about his frustrations and concerns at work. Sometimes this leads to confrontations when we don't see eye-to-eye on things. Sometimes it doesn't.

How do you keep the frustration from growing so your can grow the practice instead?

It Works!

Amazing. I just published a new post and as I viewed it I noticed something very familiar in the margin...our Google AdWords Ad! Nice.

The Magic of Personal Marketing

When you start your own business, your advertising budget is often one of the smallest. After the practice's website went live, we decided to start advertising on through Google AdWords. It's amazing how those first few click-throughs will get you excited about people looking at your web page. After Google, we decided to try Bing. Bing is new and was pushing some advertising of its own, so it seemed like a good idea. Most recently, we've added Facebook advertising to try to target the student population in the area.

I love checking the reports from each ad campaign, reviewing the impressions, clicks, etc. as each sites reporting becomes more detailed I am becoming better able to see where the traffic is coming from and how to better target our small ad budget. In fact, looking at our ROI since July, we are doing OK. More to come, I hope!

Struggle

While my husband has been building his solo law practice, I have been trying to hold on to my position at a state university. Higher ed is taking quite a hit in the budget and many positions are on the chopping block, including mine. I've worked very hard to keep my position, but in those dark moments I wonder what would we do if I lost my job. For the last 5 months my salary has been keeping us afloat and it would be crippling to lose it. So I am in grin-and-bear it mode, working to hold on to the job. I hope things with the practice get going so I can let go of the fear of losing my job.

I know we are not alone in this...suggestions anyone?

Lazy Days of Summer, but Not Realy

While the students have been on summer vacation, my spouse has been hard at work getting his new law practice off the ground. In my last post I noted that the website was about to go live. It's up and running and referrals are actually coming through it. Amazing. I am so glad that we decided to make this the first step in the marketing plan.

With the website up, he has been working to establish a physical office space. Found a small office directly across from the county and federal courthouses - right in the middle of everything. Now the process of getting furniture, stationary, etc. is in full swing. It actually looks like a real office.

Our goal has always been to be functional by the time the students returned to campus in August. It will be tight, but we are getting there. Figuring out the next steps in marketing the office will be more challenging.

What a Difference a Month Makes

Since my last post there has been a lot of movement in getting the solo practice off the ground. Let's see if can run things down...

1. A website for the law firm is under construction. Since we live in a college town our goal was to have it up and running prior to the start of the fall semester. To his credit, my husband has been working on this diligently and it should be ready ahead of schedule.
2. Currently the office is still set up in the dining room, but this was a calculated decision related to #1. Rather than put money into the overhead related to an office during the long hot summer, we decided to put the resources into the website development. Perhaps a bit of risk, people still want a physical office, but that is next on our list.
3. The first clients did arrive, somehow! My husband has had several clients from the public defenders office and some who have found him through the online directories for the website. How amazing to have the first call come in!
4. Morale is definitely up at our house. While there is still tons of concern, questions, and sometimes doubt, we are much happier to be doing this together. What a blessing!

To Office or Not to Office

One of the great debates between my husband and I is the decision about acquiring office space. He is concerned about accruing unnecessary overhead, while I have several reasons for wanting to move the office out of my dining room.

First, I am reluctant to invite future clients into my home. He is planning to start with with criminal defense work and I don't embrace the idea of those clients being at the dining room table with my kids. Second, I want him to get out of the house. Many people can work at home, but I'm not certain it's the best venue for my husband. I want him to focus on building the practice, not keeping house. Lastly, I want him to get out of the house - but for another reason. Lawyering can be lonely work, like teaching. By being out in an office, alone or as a share, and near the courthouse he is more likely to network with other attorneys and build the relationships that were lacking in his former, big-law practice.

Building a Solo Web Presence

After returning from a CLE this past week, my husband is working on developing his website and overall web presence before fully launching his firm. In my initial post referred to going solo as hanging out a shingle, but in today's world it's more about being online. Today's attorneys use the web, blogs, etc. to reach new potential clients and keep connected with current clients. Living in a university town, it's essential to have a web presence because it where young people go first for assistance. College students are not going to check the Yellow Pages for an attorney, they're going to Google it.

We'll be in touch soon about the new website.

Going Solo is a Family Affair

The day my husband's firm had him resign was gut-wrenching. We had been anticipating a lay-off as possibility, but we never imagined it would come as it did. While the lay-off/resignation sent us all in a tailspin, it was a very positive week. In many ways, the stress that he had been carrying for months and months all melted away and was replaced with a new, optimistic outlook. Still heavy with concern and what-ifs, the future was finally within his locus of control, more importantly, it was within our locus of control.

As the attorney's spouse, I never had much input about his work. The firm ruled all, from the billable hour to the client cases. But now, we are approaching this new enterprise as a true team; it is a family affair. Our dining room table is the new office. Our son has noticed that Dad's work attire is a little more casual. Our home is a little happier. We are embracing going solo together.

Welcome to the Solo Attorney's Spouse

This blog is meant to share our experiences as my spouse opens a solo law practice. More and more attorneys are finding themselves down-sized from big law, and my husband is no exception. The buzz about attorney layoffs is hot; it's on the news, in the blogs, and being felt in families across America.

In our case, my husband has decided to hang out his own shingle. This is not without some trepidation, but it is with the support of the solo attorney's spouse, me. So join us on this journey and share your experiences about going solo.