and his partner elected to put the physical and mental health
of their employees first and closed its physical offices.
An avid believer in the “leaders eat last” mentality, Sullivan
opted for a people-before-profits model in managing his business
through this crisis. He recognized that the members of his team
were understandably anxious about their job security. For this
reason, he assured all employees early on that although business
would be temporarily slow, and that they would be working from
home, they would be paid their full checks as if they were working
full-time in the office. To make good on this promise, Sullivan and
his partner have declined to pay themselves during this temporary
lull in the action. However, Sullivan believes that this short-term
discomfort will pay dividends long-term through employee loyalty.
FIXING IT FORWARD THROUGH DIVERSIFICATION
As he saw cash flow begin to decline, Sullivan picked up Fix This
Next. He utilized Mike’s take on the Business Hierarchy of Needs
to identify a fundamental flaw in the firm’s business strategy.
Pinpointing the “weak link” in the RPS business model was
relatively easy to identify. By limiting the services provided by
his law firm, the success and legacy of the business was volatile to
variations in the service-industry economy and the enforcement
of criminal laws. Likewise, the limitation on the areas of practice
for his law firm created a glass ceiling for growth. After all,
only so many people would be arrested in any given year.
After some time spent strategically ruminating on Mike’s
advice and the Business Hierarchy of Needs, Sullivan
curated a plan to implement a new multidimensional business
model. He was determined to find an area of practice that
would add to his firm’s legacy and provide long-lasting
cash flow to better safeguard the firm’s financial health.
This required that he identify a practice area that was not
a “fad.” Sullivan witnessed firsthand as competitors began
investing time and dollars in marketing “Business Interruption
Insurance claims.” However, this practice area was similarly
tied to the pandemic. Likewise, other lawyers had recently
begun advertising services as “marijuana attorneys.” Sullivan
does not see the long-term strategic benefit in this practice
as states continue to broaden the legality of marijuana.
Spending time and resources on such a “fad practice area”
was akin to investing in “calling cards” in the mid-2000s.
Additionally, Sullivan considered areas of law that could be
practiced remotely, should his firm decide to expand into
other counties in the future. Ultimately, the firm has decided
to broaden its reach into the number one growing area of
practice in Florida: Elder Law and Medicaid Planning. As
the adage goes, the only guarantees in life are death and
taxes. Unlike crime, every citizen of Florida is a potential
future client. Most importantly, diversifying his practice to