How Solo Practitioners Can Leverage Tech to Be More Successful

Recently, the legal services industry has become increasingly reliant on technology to drive forward business growth. Firms both large and small are beginning to leverage new technologies to assist with marketing, advertising, daily operations, and more.

While the growth has occurred industry-wide, no other firm size has benefited more than solo practitioners. Because they practice law independently, the lack of partner support can be supplemented – at least to an extent – by technology.

Now, with the power of technology, solo practitioners can be more competitive without having to staff a lot of additional help. If you are a solo practitioner, here are some easy ways to leverage technology for your business.

Finding Assistance Is Easier Than Ever

Even though a solo practitioner is on their own when practicing law, they still will need some outside assistance to make the business move smoothly. No one person can handle every task of running a law firm, no matter the size.

Outside assistance will be detrimental in determining the success of your business. Finding the right staff to assist with back-office operations is a must.

In today’s digital world, you can easily find virtual assistants for your practice who can help manage back-office tasks, both remotely and at an affordable cost. Using virtual assistants can help you delegate tasks such as answering phone calls, screening emails, and managing minor tasks to a team of qualified assistants.

Virtual assistants are becoming more commonplace in the industry as more remote work policies are adopted. These remote workers will help you save money on office space, hiring costs, equipment costs, and a variety of other costs that could eat into your bottom line.

Also, virtual assistants are great for small practices that may not need the help of a full-time assistant. Virtual assistants often work just a few hours a week. In the past, it would have been difficult to convince someone to come to answer some calls for just 12 hours a week. If an assistant can do the job from the comfort of their home office, the offer becomes much more appealing, making it easier to find help when you need it.

Alternative Funding Empowers Quick Decision-Making

As a solo practitioner, there may be times when you will not have the capital on hand to expand your business. Being on your own often means lower revenue numbers, which in turn can make it difficult to save up enough to move the business forward. You most likely have shorter, more immediate contracts and opportunities that may require immediate funding.

Finding fast, accessible funding in recent years has become much easier than before. The emergence of Fintech (financial technology) has positively impacted the business lending sphere, as new trendy lenders have infiltrated the marketplace with tech-focused financing solutions.

If your firm needs quick funding, it may be worthwhile to check out an alternative lender. New online lenders offer the same business loans that traditional lenders would, but these online lenders have no physical branch location to visit. They instead have virtual loan experts that help a business owner walk through every step of the application process. Online lenders can provide funding in as little as 24-hours, making it great for solo practitioners who may be looking to capitalize on an immediate opportunity.

As you look to move the firm forward this year, consider leveraging the speed and efficiency of online lending to gain access to capital quickly.

Software Keeps Back-Office Operations Streamlined 

As a solo practitioner, you ideally would like to spend most of your time dealing with clients, attracting new clients, and working on specific cases. Any time spent away from these tasks is taking time away from advancing your business.

Luckily, you can automate many of these remedial business processes using an all-in-one system. These systems, such as BQE CORE, will allow you to streamline many of your back-office operations. BQE CORE provides you with a dashboard that incorporates many of your business’s accounting, billing, and human resources data to give you a snapshot of the health of the firm.

These new software offerings often tap into the power of artificial intelligence to assist with future planning and projections. Taking some of the responsibility out of your hands will allow you to spend more time handling client-focused tasks.

Marketing Is More Cost-Effective

Since you’re presumably operating on a tighter budget than larger law firms, you may find yourself in a bind when it comes to building your business’s brand. Running TV spots, designing billboards, and getting airtime on the radio can all be extremely costly. Luckily, the fragmented world of marketing today has many alternative avenues to explore.

A digital marketing campaign is one of the most cost-effective ways that you can market your law firm. This is because popular digital marketing channels, such as social media and search engines, are extremely high in usage rate while being low in cost.

With the number of social media users continuing to grow, the value of social media marketing is also skyrocketing. Social media platforms are the perfect place to market your firm as you can do targeted ads through paid campaigns, as well as organic campaigns from your own page, all in one place.

This is not to say that traditional marketing should be ignored, but it shouldn’t be as heavily relied upon as it was in previous times. Take stock into what traditional channels are truly working for you so you aren’t dumping money into dated methods.

Technology has paved the way for modern marketing channels that are cost-effective and able to reach thousands of people, to be easily usable by any business owner. If you are not investing in digital marketing yet, you should be because it could save you money in the long run.