With inflation at an all-time high, businesses should be adaptable to changes so that they can stay afloat. The Federal Reserve increased the federal target funds rate to try to curb inflation and minimize spending, which can affect individuals’ borrowing powers. With a change in customer’s spending power, it can negatively affect the bottom line of businesses.
With talks about a looming recession, businesses should stay resilient and adaptable and they can do this by incorporating technology into their business processes. Staying on top of new technology will enable law firms to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors and reach a whole new audience through the power of technology.
When there are talks about an economic downturn or recession, most companies are caught off guard and face uncertainties regarding business continuity. There are many different priorities that business owners encounter and this involves disruption preparation and surviving economic stress and pressure. Instinctively, law firms and most businesses think that tightening their wallets and budgets is the best solution to counter the economic downturn.
Taking an aggressive and defensive stand against recession is ill-advised. Most company owners go into crisis mode by shrinking operating costs and expenditures and postponing purchasing equipment and machinery. Doing this will create pessimism throughout the organization which brings about a sense of disempowerment.
There is also no correlation between cutting costs and increasing profits. Companies that take on a more progressive response to the economic downturn see increased revenues. Instead of being on the defensive side, it is advisable to be on the middle which means a little bit of offense and a little bit of defense.
Contrary to this knee-jerk reaction of minimizing costs, most businesses should invest in technology to survive and recover from the pending recession. When you are investing dollars towards technology and offering the right solutions to clients, you will be able to shield your company from becoming stagnant and position the business for a likely comeback once the recession ends.
Here are numerous benefits that come with using technology to help your law firm adapt and become resilient to the recession:
Remote work has exploded exponentially, especially during the onset of the pandemic. In reality, you don’t need to rent office spaces and configure workstations for your team especially if you are moving towards a hybrid work environment. Most of the work with law offices can be done remotely provided that your employees have access to equipment and high-speed internet. By minimizing office space, you can save on rent, office expenses, and electricity costs.
Having a remote and hybrid workspace will also enable you to attract talent who doesn’t necessarily live in the immediate area where you operate in. This will widen the pool of employee candidates that you can tap into when looking to fill law firm positions. Remote work will also give flexibility when it comes to client meetings and interactions because these can shift to remote as well which makes it convenient for clients and save on meeting costs.
Employees of law firms can attest to the vast amounts of time they spend performing repetitive tasks and filling out the same forms for each client. If you have entity management software, you can simplify most tasks and automate them which means you will be spending less money on performing such tasks. By freeing up more time for your employees, they can concentrate on more important tasks such as meeting new clients and building relationships with new ones.
Automating forms will also enable your law firm to keep and store documents in the cloud which is a secure location and ensures that these documents are easily retrievable if you need them. Automation can also be implemented in signing documents through electronic signatures and collecting signatures from clients even if they are located far away.
By having inefficient technology, your law firm will run the risk of business disruptions. By having a single source of truth, you will have an easier time browsing archives and finding the pertinent information. Most SSOTs are cloud-based and having this type of infrastructure will limit security risks.
Business data will be integrated which will make it easier for collaboration and corporate subsidiary management. Because there is one single source of truth, team members will be encouraged to collaborate, and getting ideas across is easier than ever regardless of whether the team members live in varying time zones.
This can also increase the accountability factor because everybody can see the workflow process and see where the process is lagging so that corrections and modifications can be made to improve the process.
Customer-facing tools are essential especially when working in a law firm because it needs to be easy and user-friendly. When you have a strong customer relationship management tool, you can nurture existing clients’ relationships and ensure that you are keeping communication lines open throughout the economic downturn.
Law firm owners investing in entity management software can also improve operational efficiency not just when faced with a recession but it can also a long-term solution. Having a sound operational process will not only help your business but will also boost employee morale because they will appreciate the management’s commitment to them.
Utilizing an entity management software is the number one step that you can take to make your law firm adaptable, you can request a customized demo with a business entity management expert so that you can experience first-hand the many different benefits that Athennian can bring to your business. Athennian can provide cloud-based solutions for all your technology needs to bring a competitive advantage to your law firm.