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Some markets are moving quickly to optimize expenses while increasing revenue even in a down economy.
Regardless of your business the movers and shakers are those who’ve figured out how to provide less expensive service to corporations are the ones flourishing now.
“We are keeping costs down by using in-house attorneys as much as possible and using sole practitioners or nontraditional law firms with big firm experience,” said Kristen K. McGuffey, executive vice president and general counsel of Simmons Bedding Co.
One of the non-traditional firms McGuffey uses is FSB Legal Counsel, founded seven years ago by two of her former colleagues at Morris, Manning & Martin, James M. Fisher II and Kevin E. Broyles. It’s a “virtual” firm of former big law attorneys working remotely to offer clients the same services as before at half the rate — or less.
“We didn’t plan this economic situation. We’re just benefiting from it,” said Fisher. “In a time of lawyers being laid off, we’re increasing our size.”
Fisher said FSB is growing as fast as they can find attorneys who meet their standards — which include seven years or more of big law experience. Some have decades with big law firms, and some are former corporate GCs.
Fisher worked for Holland & Knight and Baker & McKenzie before joining Morris, Manning & Martin, where he met Broyles. They started FSB in 2002 with six lawyers in Atlanta. Last fall they had 27 lawyers, and now have 41. They expect to have 50 by the end of the quarter and 75 to 100 by the end of the year.
In addition to Atlanta, they have attorneys in Dallas and Chicago and are adding them in Washington and New York. They work in their home offices or other quarters of their own choosing. They do their own typing and answer their own phones. Their only firm office is an executive suite at an office park that is rented for specific occasions only — like a hotel meeting room. Their regular partner meetings are often held in restaurants or bars, where the only cost is the meal. They stay in touch through e-mail, cell phones and the Internet.
“There are a lot of inefficiencies in the law firm model,” said Fisher, who noted that law firms respond to economic pressures by increasing rates paid by clients or — when that won’t fly, as in the current climate — laying off associates and increasing the workload for those left. “They never thought of cutting expenses,” Fisher said, adding that he and Broyles exploited that traditional resistance to change and overhead cost cutting.
“What we’ve done is taken a big law firm and taken away the ivory tower, the mahogany desks, the expensive artwork, the young associates being trained on the clients’ dime and the redundant support staff,” said Fisher. “The clients are really only paying for what’s between our ears.”
Firms that supply contract attorneys operate on a different model than FSB, but they also save on overhead from working remotely and staying connected through technology. And at the moment, those who provide contract lawyers are also growing in a down economic cycle.
“The pressures that our in-house clients face are unlike anything we’ve seen in the past,” said Jane Hanner Allen, who founded Counsel On Call 10 years ago to provide contract attorneys to law firms on hourly rates for full- or part-time work as needed. Now, her business has grown from her solo shop in a Nashville, Tenn., suburb to six offices — including one in Atlanta — and hundreds of attorneys around the country. They now split their business evenly between law firms and corporate legal departments, and they are growing.
Allen said the sight of so many qualified attorneys leaving law firms for personal reasons drove her to start a contract law firm as an alternative way to build a practice around a life — and to pass the cost savings on to clients.
Now that the attorneys are in place, the economy has focused the need to cut costs. Allen said she’s been hearing GCs say they have to cut outside counsel costs or lose their bonuses. Next, they’ll have to cut costs or lose their jobs. The financial pressure is creating a boiling point for change.
The same thinking applies to any business not just the legal industry. If you haven’t examined the value of creating a virtual office and saving the related cost then someday you may just be forced to. Why wait?
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Mobile Technology & Virtual Solutions – The New Reality for Business
We are becoming more mobile than ever before, thanks to technology that lets us interact personally and professionally in diverse, fluid ways. While there are ample reports to confirm this truth, one needs only look around while out and about to know it’s accurate. Everywhere, people are texting, taking photos and forwarding, checking email and even, well, talking using their multi-functional phones–Blackberries, iPhones and the like. Now, even netbooks and slimline laptops also make it easier to make great use of mobile broadband, enabling users to be fully functional while on the go.
Parks Associates, a Texas-based research firm specializing in”digital living technologies,” was widely quoted earlier this year as it announced that mobile broadband users will top 140 million by 2013. Likewise, a 2008 report from comScore, Inc. reported that Americans accessing the Internet via mobile broadband lept by 154% in 2007. The comScore report noted that 59% of users were using the technology for work purposes, versus 41% for personal use. Suffice to say, this versatile capability is increasingly impacting our everyday lives in more integrated ways.
Have Virtual Services Gone Mainstream?
The Wall Street Journal quotes best selling author Paul Edwards as saying, “Virtual assistants provide services ranging from administrative support to consulting via e-mail, fax and phone.”
The article continues recommending several books for getting started, including Virtual Assistant – The Series by Diana Ennen and Kelly Poelker.
In the May issue of Reader’s Digest, an article entitled New Ways to Make a Bundle states, “If you possess word processing, transcription, bookkeeping, public relations, or website design skills, you may want to try employment as a virtual assistant. Ennen is quoted saying “There is so much work for VA’s that the field is thriving. It is absolutely booming.”
The important thing is to use your own skills and expertise to build your business. Starting a virtual assistant business isn’t a get rich quick scheme. It takes time and talent, but those who succeed can’t imagine doing anything else. Clients are grateful to have talented, highly skilled, and motivated virtual assistants to support their business growth.
Why the draw to Virtual Services?
Davinci Virtual recognized the “shift” in business models years ago and subsequently have now set up a worldwide network of “virtual resources for businesses”. Our network includes virtual offices, virtual assistance, virtual receptionist and we adding more and more services to our portfolio as “virtual services” go mainstream.
Virtual services can optimize business performance. Soon the business models of the past will become out dated and virtual services will become the norm. Why wait to catch up with the marketplace. Call Davinci Virtual and learn how using “virtual services” can save you money and improve performance.
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After the C-Suite – Starting a Venture Just for You
Sometimes the words “start-up,” “entrepreneur” and “small business” can conjure images of fledgling dreamers setting up shop in their apartments, struggling to pay student loans while launching their big ideas.
Of course, the reality is much broader and deeper than that image. Today’s entrepreneurs come in all ages, shapes and stages of experience. Many who are starting up new ventures are winding down other successful careers, drawing upon their C-Suites knowledge to try different enterprises.
For former chief executives taking bold leaps out of the suite and into unchartered ventures, it often works well to incorporate touches of “corporate” to make the transition more smooth. Some structure and support are often immensely helpful for newly suite-less entrepreneurs.
Virtual offices and virtual support staff are ideal options for this breed of entrepreneur. It can sometimes be a shock to the system to go from the tiered structure of a corporate office to the nebulous, undefined world of start-up small business. Though they may find starting a business exciting and liberating, former C-Suiters sometimes face surprising challenges as sole proprietors. Virtual support can be customized to meet need levels along the way, yet provide the reliable, familiar support that corporate refugees are accustomed to.
Former execs are not likely to feel at ease conducting business at the neighborhood coffee house. Going from the fully staffed and appointed office suite to a bustling coffee shop to conduct business can simply be too foreign or jarring a concept for some. Virtual office space, available as needed, is an ideal alternative, as it provides the professionalism and environment desired without the cost or maintenance associated with a full-term lease.
For any business person, the art of delegation is important. While some natural born entrepreneurs lean toward a do-it-myself mentality, many former executives thrive in the ability to delegate, allowing themselves to focus on leadership and visionary aspects of their business. The business DIYers often have hard times growing their businesses because they’re uncomfortable passing batons. Former C-Suiters are adept at utilizing support and handing off tasks, which often nurtures growth.
Companies like Davinci Virtual utilize today’s amazing, seamless technology to equip experienced, dependable receptionists and assistants to provide professional support services to businesses of all shapes and sizes. Likewise, they secure office locations globally to offer businesses physical space responsively and affordably.
Davinci Virtual itself is a business built on corporate-world knowledge and unbridled entrerpreneurialism. Davinci was created to serve all business people, though there is a strong connectivity to executive types who are drawn to the high level of service Davinci Virtual provides. These execs are very , as well as the proven hiring and vetting processes employed to ensure the best people are on hand any time.
Are you a C-Suite executive who’s feeling an urge to try something just for you? If you’re preparing to leap from the suite and try something by the seat of your pants, you don’t have to go it alone. Virtual offices, virtual receptionists and virtual assistants are already on hand, equipped and ready to go when you are. Virtual support will help you transition from the suite life to the sweet life whenever the time is right for you!
The East Side to The Far East: Small World, Big Opportunities for Business Owners
These days we marvel about how technology has torn down barriers to global business. Of course, the first hints of a global economy hearken back to early exploration accomplished by adventurous, curious (and often opportunistic) souls traversing worldly waters by ship. Many moons later, we figured out things like international air travel, telephone communications and so on. Then that aforementioned technology started really kicking in—computers, the Internet, mobile devices, and the game altered dramatically.
Thanks to all that progress and innovation, we now work in business world ready for global interconnectivity. In person or online, we can ‘be there’ at any time, at any point, anywhere.
As a matter of fact, there are virtual office providers that can secure nicely appointed, fully equipped physical space just about anywhere on the globe. Business people can work seamlessly no matter the hemisphere, meeting in person with customers as needed and maintaining relationships through fluid technology long term.
For example, virtual office solutions provider Davinci Virtual just announced the addition of 28 partner center locations in the Far East and Australia. These additions come on top of an already widespread network of office space in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Central America, Asia and Australia. Business people use Davinci’s virtual office services to have on-location meeting space, then use the company’s virtual staffing solutions for ongoing support to service, manage and maintain global business relationships. And all this can be done without ever leasing a physical location or directly hiring anyone.
“Yeah., and…?”
That might be the response of small or mid-size business owners in Boise. Or Beaumont. Or Bakersfield. For businesses with local or regional focus, the talk of global economy often seems fascinating yet superfluous. What relevance is there for companies whose customer bases are defined by counties, not countries?
Why should SMBs go beyond local to embrace global opportunities?
1. They can afford to expand their world view. Technology, transportation and virtual office solutions make working globally very plausible, manageable and affordable. Even doing global market research is not nearly as daunting or expensive as it once was thanks to technology and access to information.
2. They can find untapped selling potential. If a widget maker has had success in the U.S., there may likely be another market somewhere on the planet that would want that widget.
3. They can find great new sources and resources. It’s more than just the idea that things can be manufactured more affordably “in China.” SMBs may find other corners of the world that make or do things more efficiently in ways that could positively impact their operations and processes. There may be a potential business partner abroad who can add a unique perspective or dimension to help grow business.
4. They can build in longevity for their businesses. No matter the current scope of a business, the reality is the world is getting smaller and the economy is becoming globally inclusive. Should business owners desire to build a business with staying power, they must look beyond the expected borders.
Yes—it’s a small world after all. And it’s also a virtual one. Small business owners willing to tap into the amazing resources stand to build equally amazing relationships. A small world can mean big opportunities!
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