Solo As A Side Dish Options

[Editor]

"There are some who would say you can’t have a solo practice as a side dish and do it effectively. They could be right if they saw the ‘side dish’ solo practice as just a stepping stone to becoming the ‘main course’ so-lo practice." Susan Cartier Liebel from Solo Practice University


I’d say it’s a question of definition more than anything else. She has a full time job … her client that probably represents 90% of her clientele and her revenue stream. Then, she has a number of other clients, smaller both in volume of number of clients and dollars earned.



I think the same principles apply. For example, my advice is not to have a client that represents more than 10% of your gross revenue … Too much of your future is in the hands of this client. That is the problem with a full time job … you have one client … and when that client has a hiccup or the power structure changes, you are dramatically impacted. In your friend’s case, she’ll (she?) will have to make sure not to anger that client (her company client) while serving others. If her ultimate goal is to build up her other clients so she has more freedom of choice, that’s a different goal … and fine.



From personal experience, I can share a time of my life. I was corporate general counsel, running a manufacturing business on the side as Chairman of the Board (with a full time manager in place) and running my own practice in the evening (sometimes spilled over into the day) … This went for quite a while … until hiccup. The corporate world changed and I no longer was corporate general counsel. So I went back to my “solo practice” (the evening practice) and put more energy there. Another time, I was solo but one of my clients was about 60% of my business .. I knew that was not the best situation, but used it to grow the balance of my practice, hoping to increase my revenue, keeping the big client, but reducing the percentage of their importance.



Again, I think it’s merely a question of definition.