David Salter, founder and director of the boutique translation company Linguistico, talks about his journey from solicitor to business owner.
As any successful business owner will tell you, providing great client service is the best promotion for the business itself. Whilst the power of the press cannot be underestimated, word-of-mouth can be a far more productive marketing tool than advertising in magazines, television or radio.
If your clients enjoyed working with you as a lawyer, some of them may even be interested in supporting you in your new venture.
What’s in a name?
Having a solid business name can help too, as not only will it help create your business image, it will also help people remember who you are and what you do.
“Your business name has to be memorable and pronounceable, it has to fit on a business card, match your market and appeal across all the industries you intend to service.”
“I wanted something fun yet professional for the business name, and I needed it to appeal to lawyers as well as to accountants and marketing personnel. I was lucky that wife also had a background in the legal and marketing industries as she understood what the name needed to portray. After brainstorming possible names with her, she had a flash of inspiration and we just knew instantly that the name ‘Linguistico’ was going to be the right one.”
Build, consistently
But building a reputation is not only about clever marketing and promotion. What would you do, for example, should your client be unable to pay your invoice on time due to cash flow problems? David believes that offering consistently high-quality client service should be something you strive for at all times and in all dealings with clients.
“I believe in picking up the telephone. It’s harder to say ‘no’ to people over the phone and I find that if you send an email you run the risk of sounding grumpy or upset, even if you’ve tried to make the email sound the opposite. Collecting an outstanding debt can lose you a client if done badly. But it can also serve to strengthen the relationship between the parties through better understanding of each other’s business requirements.”
Reaching from the lows towards the highs
Setting up a new business can come with many risks as well as many rewards. The risk of not making any money was heavy on David’s mind when he gave up legal practice to start his own business.
But what he feared most was failure and, more specifically, failing without gaining any wisdom from the experience.
“For me it was the fear of giving up at a point when I hadn’t learnt anything. If I’d just had one go at starting my business, then failed and gone straight back to legal practice, that would have disappointed me. Many entrepreneurs fail a number of times before they actually succeed.”
Luckily for David, failure was not something Linguistico would have to encounter. Still, there were plenty of difficulties along the way.
“I think the greatest difficulty for most new business owners coming from the legal profession is all the new things you have to learn. Lawyers are used to dialling a number for their IT support, accountancy or marketing departments, and their insurance is organised for them. But when you work for yourself you don’t have those support systems yet have to very quickly get a grip on all aspects of your business, some of which might not be your particular forte. There’s a lot of learning before you can even start to generate an income.”
But loving what you do will help push you through to success and a clear business vision can help you keep in sight the goals you’re trying to achieve, goals such as job satisfaction, being your own boss and seeing your efforts mature into success.
“If you persevere you’ll get such a great sense of satisfaction and pride from having created a business that works, from creating jobs for other people and from winning clients, something that most lawyers wouldn’t get to do until they reach partnership.”
“There are financial rewards too, especially when you have a low-overheads business, i.e. a business that doesn’t take significant financial or time investment to develop. And it’s good too to have the opportunity to direct money how you wish it to be directed, by letting your business help charities which have a personal meaning for you, your family or your friends.”
The learning curve most new business owners experience can, of course, also be a reward.
“I know so much more about the world now compared to two years ago when I first started Linguistico – I was pretty naïve I think. I understand more about languages, countries and cultures than before, including the fascinating history of Australian migration, and I also have a greater appreciation for the role commerce plays in our lives. I don’t think you can or will ever stop learning.”
“But the achievement about which I am most proud, has been creating jobs in one of the worst economic climates of recent times. That for me is huge. It’s a pretty cool thing to have done…”
ÞNext time, David talks about handling money when launching your new career.