April 13, 2009

Little Things Make for Greater Profitability

I've had many managing partners tell me they run their practices are much like the cobbler that walked around with holes in his shoes ran his business. They know better and usually pretty much know what needs to be done. It's the execution that is the issue. How to herd the cats and get everyone marching in the same direction when everyone appears to have differing opinions on what needs to be done. I would hate to tell you how many times I have heard that "we tried to do that one time but I couldn't get everyone on board so I just gave up". Hopelessness creeps in and execution and accountability fly out the window. A very tough way to run a practice.


I find that success is the best motivator to change behavior so I recommend that partner groups start managing the "now" for success. Here are a few ideas:


Not getting charge time-Schedule weekly (see previous post) and monitor daily.


Partners won't bill-Pay a significant return on each partner's cash basis equity or if it still doesn't work only allow draws based upon cash basis equity (sorry partners this is a business, not a job)


Partners won't charge adequately for their work-Set minimum contribution rates per hour for each month of the year and schedule accordingly (contribution rates fluctuate based upon actual utilization each month. I'll have more on this in another post later this month.)




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