The High Price of “DIY Operations” in Law Firms
The DIY Temptation
Many law firm owners think, “We’ll figure out operations ourselves. How hard can it be?” They patch together tools, wing it with processes, and assume they can “fix it later.”
But DIY operations come with a steep price.
The Hidden Costs
Time Waste. Hours spent reinventing systems could go to clients and billables. Every hour spent on operations could be put towards billings, or business development that could yield even larger results.
Fragmentation. A dozen tools that don’t talk to each other create inefficiency, because no one is looking at the big picture.
Rework. Without tested systems, mistakes get repeated.
Missed Opportunities. Growth stalls because infrastructure can’t keep up. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all, and do it all well. Something always suffers - especially in growing firms.
The Firm That Outgrew Its DIY Setup
I worked with a firm that ran on spreadsheets, email threads, and a patchwork of apps. When they hit 20 employees, everything broke: intake was inconsistent, billing was late, and staff were frustrated. Replacing DIY systems with integrated processes saved hundreds of hours per month, and their sanity!
The COO’s Role
A fractional COO helps:
Choose the right systems.
Build tested processes.
Align tools with strategy.
Create scalable infrastructure.
The Bottom Line
DIY may work in the early days. But as you grow, it’s the single biggest drag on productivity and profit.
At ING Collaborations, I help law firms stop patching operations together and start building systems that scale.