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01

MY (FIRST) BUSINESS PLAN

Considerations for Associates in Multinational Law Firms on their way to

Partnership

Martina Weinberger

My (first) Business Plan


02

ARE YOU THINKING OF BECOMING A

PARTNER?

According to a recent study at Bucerius 1 law school, law firms nominate

candidates in accordance with two criteria:

- Competence: What exactly firms mean by competence will be

more or less closely defined and is occasionally less than

transparent. Legal competence is always the foundation for a

nomination, the ability to win new business another key factor.

Finally, 'likeability' should not be underestimated. This does not

equate to being 'nice'. In fact, it is all about the perceived 'fit' of

the candidate with the firm. Can people picture him or her as a

partner in this context?

- Importance of the candidate and his/her business case for the

overall strategy and the business model of the firm. This can be

an even more opaque criterion.

So whilst the actual promotion criteria are less clear than most candidates

would wish, one thing has become increasingly common, there is a need

to:

ACT LIKE A PARTNER – LONG BEFORE YOU

HAVE BEEN MADE UP

What is the difference between an employed lawyer and a partner? In a

nutshell: a partner is an entrepreneur who runs his or her business. He or

she partners up with other entrepreneurs to enjoy synergies and more

exciting work than each could win if they worked just by themselves.

So what makes entrepreneurs special? They tend to be very clear on what

business they are in, what they are selling and how they need to go about

doing so. Most of them have some kind of business plan that explains

“the story” of their business.

1 Partnerwerdung in Kanzleien: Im Spannungsfeld von Transparenz und strategischen

Erwägungen http://www.bucerius-

clp.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Dokumentarchiv/Downloads/CLP_Partnerwerdung.pdf

„Dress for the job - not the

one you have, but the one

you want“.

As a piece of advice, this has

been around for a while – and

it rings true still.

We suggest you use this

metaphor for your journey

into partnership:

Act and think like a partner,

and the likelihood of actually

“making it” is definitely

higher.



03

So, even if you do not need a business plan to secure funding by a bank,

we suggest you come up with one that sets out your “entrepreneurial

story”. A story that explains, how you contribute to the overall success of

your firm. A focus for starting to think and act like a partner – now.

WHY YOU NEED A BUSINESS PLAN

Start of by considering the following questions carefully: what exactly is

my business? What does the market around me look like? How do I need

to build my business so that success is sustainable? How exactly do I

make the shift from employee to entrepreneur?

In our view a useful business plan needs to

Provide clarity and focus. Clarity where you are headed and

where you want to end up. Focus on what is important. You

already have a busy job, you can really only afford to add

relevant “stuff”.

Be action oriented. Goals without clear actions are nothing but

pipe dreams. So, do specify what you will do to reach these

goals. If in doubt, aim for less and do it. In our experience a

typical “first time” business plan problem is drawing up a long list

of “what I should be doing” – promptly followed by the

realisation that you do not have the time to actually do it. This is

not what we have in mind! You need few relevant things with

clear follow through.

Be a basis for communication – a good business plan helps you

talk about your plans and thus make them reality. You have the

advantage of not being “out there” on your own. You have the

infrastructure and breadth of talent of a highly reputable law

firm. Hence, find out how you can support others with their

business. Share with them how you would like to contribute and

specify what kind of support and introductions you need.

Focus both on internal and external profile building. Whilst it is of

course important to build a market profile – our experience

shows, that in large law firms it might be even more important to

actively manage your internal profile, to get involved in strategic

drives that matter to the firm, have your name be known by the

right people in a relevant context.

Come up with a useful plan –

by answering the

question what it needs

to “deliver” for you.

How can your personal

business plan help you get

clear on your role, your

business focus?



04

MAKE YOUR PLAN FIT THE FIRMS STRATEGY

Most lawyers omit detailed competitor analysis in their personal business

plans. Yet these days, in an ever-changing market for law firms, with fee

pressure, new competition, a drive towards innovation2 most law firms are

looking for partners who are successful beyond the boundaries of their

team. Partners, who are innovative, have their fingers at the pulse of

change and are thus able to follow market trends, cross-sell and willing to

contribute to the overall success of the firm.

So if you have not done so – start looking at the bigger picture: What is

going on in the market – in your firm?

Does your firm have a marketing or business development function? Do

you know the people who work there? What are they working on? How

can they help? Whom can you talk to, to find out, where the firm is

heading? Does your firm have specific business plans for your office,

practice group, sector? How can you find out what these say? How can

you make sure that any plan you might create fits with these strategic

initiatives?

Your firm does not have such explicit strategies, or they are not accessible

to associates? In that case, you will need to ask yourself, who best to

speak to? Consider what questions to ask. Notice what your observations

tell you regarding what is important. Most importantly, challenge your

own beliefs. If they held you back from asking those questions, they might

hold you back from engaging as a business person.

22 Have a look at exciting innovation in the law area, e.g. by checking out

the financial times publishing on the innovative lawyer of the year – here

is a link to the 2014 report: http://im.ft-

static.com/content/images/d202a7b2-4dd9-11e4-9683-00144feab7de.pdf

http://im.ft-static.com/content/images/d202a7b2-4dd9-11e4-9683-00144feab7de.pdf

http://im.ft-static.com/content/images/d202a7b2-4dd9-11e4-9683-00144feab7de.pdf



05

CONTENT OF YOUR PERSONAL BUSINESS

PLAN

Here is our take on the three components of your personal business plan:

1. FOCUS

What kind of lawyer are you? Your personal “pre-amble” to your business

plan, that allows you to make choices of what to do and what not to do.

2. STATUS QUO

Looking back on what has happened so far – to learn for the future from

both your successes and your failures!

3. OUTLOOK

Looking forward – plan your activity and actions

Are you interested in getting tips on how you can go about finding your

focus? How to learn from what has happened so far and how to write a

relevant forward looking plan? You can send us an email at:

[email protected]

We are happy to send you the full version of this think piece.

“If you want to increase your

success rate -

double your failure rate.”

Thomas J. Watson

mailto:[email protected]



06

About TOGUNA

Toguna Leadership Development creates

bespoke learning experiences that give leaders

protected space and time to focus

a deep sense of self-efficacy

a ferocious appetite to act

permission to stumble, laugh and learn

awareness of their personal growth

Toguna Leadership

Coaching House

Maximilianstraße 43

80538 Munchen

Germany



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