I plan to use this newsletter to distil the lessons I am learning week-by-week. I am hoping this will allow me to capture my thoughts in real time, rather than trying to connect the dots looking back.

So, going forward, I will write about my most important realisations from the previous week. You will hear about the successes and the failures, as well as the day-to-day realities of running a business.

If you are reading this, please don’t hesitate to comment below. It’s always a pleasure to know you are reading this newsletter, and I want you to join me in my journey to building TCLA.

Talking to users

At TCLA, we sell products and services to individuals, namely aspiring lawyers. These are students, recent graduates and career changers who are interested in a career in commercial law.

Because I used to be an aspiring lawyer, I had a shortcut to understanding our target market when I started TCLA. I was in the lucky position that I could create products and services that I would have been willing to pay for.

But I have noticed that I can no longer use my experiences to anticipate the needs of aspiring lawyers. Too much time has passed, and I am in danger of making assumptions about what aspiring lawyers want, rather than knowing what they want.

I relate to Jason Fried’s point here:

“Advice, like fruit, is best when it’s fresh. But advice quickly decays, and 15 year-old advice is bound to be radioactive. Sharing a life experience is one thing (grandparents are great at this – listen to them!), but advice is another thing. Don’t give advice about things you used to know. Just because you did something a long time ago doesn’t mean you’re qualified to talk about it today.”

To better understand our customers, I have launched weekly 1:1 calls with our members. Every Thursday, I call 10 to 15 aspiring lawyers to discuss the biggest concerns they are facing right now.

This is fun: I have missed being on the ground and talking to our users. I also feel I am in a better place to understand what solutions would fix the repeated challenges they face.

Over the past year, thanks to the team, I am shifting away from the day-to-day work at TCLA so I can focus on tasks that: a) only I am in a position to do, b) offer the most leverage, or c) I enjoy doing. This has meant transitioning to a business that is reliant on systems rather than a single person (me) directing everything.

This makes sense: as we grow, I can’t do everything, and TCLA will grow more efficiently if I spend my time on the biggest things that will move the needle.

I come back to one of the first start-up books I read called The E-Myth Revisited and this humorous line from Michael Gerber:

“If your business depends on you, you don’t own a business—you have a job. And it’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a lunatic!”

I still have a lot to do when it comes to organisation, documentation and the creation of Standard Operating Procedures, but this has opened up space for me to consider the next stage of scaling TCLA.

Talking to businesses

The next transition involves business-to-business sales and securing sponsorship contracts from law firms. It also means building a bigger team, investing in technology to make our products better, and using data to inform our future decisions.

Until now, I have been hesitant to contact law firms. I reasoned that I wanted to wait until I had built better systems or ‘saturated’ the student market. But, if I can be honest with you, these were just excuses. The truth is that I was intimidated by tackling a problem I don’t yet know how to solve.

I must remind myself that this is just a problem I don’t know how to solve yet. Because I have limited experience understanding law firms, I need to learn about their needs. To learn about their needs, I need to speak to law firms to understand what they want.

Simple, right?

It’s funny how hard many of my problems seem when they are not broken down. I’m aware that the reality of securing sponsorship contracts won’t be easy, but the theory is often simple.

I’m really excited by the prospect of scaling TCLA this year - I can’t wait to bring you on the journey.