So I’ve been building a criminal practice… I’ve now reached the point that I’m bringing in enough clients to make that self-sustaining in terms of paying the bills and generating some income. Criminal practice is fun, but limited in terms of compensation.
My intention has always been to add at least one, maybe two areas of practice onto that. I’ve been considering some kind of debt/bankruptcy law or equine law (or both). Of course, I don’t want to spread myself too thin. There’s a lot to learn in each area. Equine law is uncharted. There are a few practitioners, but none doing it the way I’d like it to be done. I’d need to invent a whole business model myself, test it, then innovate. In addition to that, I’d need to get acquainted with areas of the law for which there are few, if any, mentors. There’d be a lot of self-learning.
Debt/bankruptcy law is pretty well charted, although I have my own innovations I’d like to introduce, particularly on the business and marketing end. The good thing is that while I’d be able to innovate in certain respects, I wouldn’t have to develop a business model out of whole cloth. And there are tried and true litigation methods, and “Continuing Legal Education” classes that teach you those methods.
So I’m in a bit of a quandry. I’m leaning toward the debt/bankruptcy practice because it is proven and because I can anticipate returns in the first half of 2010. These returns are not insignificant. Equine law may be a time and money suck for a while before either failing or being a huge winner. The upside on equine law could be huge, much bigger than bankruptcy/debt law.
Here’s one additional consideration: If you’re a pessimist about this economy, you should expect bankruptcy and debt law to be a thriving area for years and years to come.
Any thoughts?
Eric Bramlett says:
I’d go with what’s proven to generate income, and innovate on the side. Just my .02.
December 12, 2009 — 10:16 am
Ryan says:
Go broke or get rich innovating. Either way is more fun than playing it safe. But if you go the safe route, give me a call 🙂
December 12, 2009 — 11:36 am
Cheryl Johnson says:
I think I’d want to find a way to do both… 🙂
December 12, 2009 — 3:35 pm
Sean Purcell says:
Damon, I enjoy your writing every time you post. We don’t share a profession or even a coast, but I’m damn glad you share your thoughts.
Based on that writing (solely), you strike me as someone who prefers cutting new trails over following the guided tour. You may see the logic behind bk law, but your passion is with equine.
You’ve created a successful practice. You’re paying your bills and clearing some on the side. You say it’s fun, but not financially rewarding. Second stream of income is obvious, but… you’ve expressed quite a bit of pride (justifiably it would seem) in how you built that business: the innovations in marketing and especially internet positioning. Why follow that up by trodding down a path as well-worn as bankruptcy? Sure, you can bring some innovations, you’ve already shown that. As a matter of fact, you’ve already done that.
Bankruptcy law may be big and may even get bigger. Then again, it may not. People might continue to be in trouble, but there are certain “favored” institutions (e.g. Goldman Sachs). They seem to have a lot of free reign in writing the laws that affect them. Wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see bk law (at least personal bk) encounter a roadblock or two that does not favor the people trying to walk away from debt to these very same banks.
In any case, I think some of us – those of us that are purposeful – don’t rank money that highly when we’re making decisions anyway. We rank passion, interest and personal reward higher. You come across as one of those people. Following your passion, especially into an area so open to creativity and innovation, brings money in due time. But it brings the rewards much sooner.
There’s a pretty good chance you’ve read The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Ries & Trout. (If you haven’t, do so right away; you’ll love it.) One of the first laws tells how it’s much more important to be first than best. So if I were you, I’d be asking myself this question:
Either way, I hope you find great success and, more selfishly, I hope you continue to write here often.
December 13, 2009 — 1:34 am
Erion Shehaj says:
I’m with Cheryl on this one.
The internet marketing methods you are already utilizing might enable you to pursue both if you have the right strategy. For instance, in equine law you might invest more time (i.e. blog) than money while it develops and it BK law invest more money than time (i.e Adwords). Chances are that once you’re done either of them you’ll probably want to add another stream in the future anyway. So why not lay the groundwork now?
December 13, 2009 — 1:19 pm
Thomas Johnson says:
Build the equine long tail as you cash in on the BK praxis. BK law seems to be something that you could sub contract out as your equine praxis gets legs. Being first trumps all. An equine long tail can do you no harm.
December 13, 2009 — 2:02 pm
jimi says:
I think you should get laser focused on the equine bankruptcy market.
December 14, 2009 — 6:12 am
Eric Blackwell says:
I am not going to pretend to know your business or even what will or will not work for you, but I like Bramlett’s advice above.
Start with the stuff that you KNOW will generate income. Then plow in and invest in the other (more adventurous) sides of your practice with the time and money you save by being stingy as heck with both in both your personal and business lifestyle.
BTW- I will answer the email from over the weekend later today. Good questions all.
As Sean said, I look forward to your posts and enjoy reading your insights…
Eric
December 14, 2009 — 11:49 am
James Boyer says:
Go with Debt/bankruptcy law, no matter what the economy does, there will be plenty of business in this field.
December 14, 2009 — 2:20 pm
Brian Brady says:
I’m in Cheryl’s camp, knowing that you’ve been able to start to dominate that long-tail, equine niche on the internet. Long-term, I think you’re riches lie there.
You know what’s coming, though so it would be well to practice debt reduction/BK for the next decade. You’ve got a heart so you’re uniquely suited to helping people solve this problem
December 15, 2009 — 11:31 am