Wednesday Wisdom: Workin' on Something Big, Part II - Who Do You Want to Serve?

WORKIN' ON SOMETHING BIG, Part II:

Who Do You Want to Serve?        

"When you know who the people are you want to serve, it will be easier to decide how you want to allocate your time and your resources. Knowing who shall benefit from your work will automatically make it easier to decide what sort of work you might want to pursue."

Monika Kanokova

         

 

  

 

For most of my professional career I've been an innovator in the fields of estate planning, financial planning, and philanthropy. Many of those innovations led me over the past three decades to work with increasingly wealthier clients who could more readily afford my unique services. Those opportunities were interesting and heady indeed.

As a high-end innovator, I achieved a measure of recognition and success. I spoke on national platforms, wrote three professional books, visited some very exotic locations, and worked with some remarkable families. It was a joyful and rewarding time of my life, and I'm grateful for those relationships and those experiences.

About five years ago, however, I began to feel a yearning to stay a little closer to home and to direct my energies and skills toward middle-income families-those who have some resources but not a great deal of wealth. Those folks, who have a little but not a lot, who work hard and pay their bills and raise their families and try to prepare for the future, often feel that affordable and convenient professional services are hard to find. Whereas well-to-do families have lots of "helpers" trying to serve them, and there is an extensive safety net of free services for the poor, middle-income families are often left to fend for themselves.  

The more I considered their situation, the more I wanted to spend the remaining years of my career providing affordable and convenient professional services to middle-income families in Central Florida. It just seemed so RIGHT for who I am and what I want my work to be about.  

My efforts to do that for the past few years have been gratifying but not very efficient. I've spent a lot of time running the roads and spinning my wheels. I've been searching for a better way, and recently I found it.

 

A few months ago, I was looking for a quality wills and trusts attorney for one of my brothers in New Mexico, my home state. My quest led me to reconnect with Matt Urrea, a colleague from Albuquerque whose background is similar to mine.  

Matt has impeccable professional credentials and has spent much of his career working with high net-worth clients. Over a decade and a half ago, he too observed that middle-income families had few viable options for obtaining professional, affordable, and convenient estate planning services. He came to the conclusion that wills and trusts attorneys ought to be reaching out and making themselves more available to potential middle-income clients, who were increasingly avoiding traditional law firms and turning to the dangerous and impersonal world of on-line wills.  

In 2003, Matt offered a sensible alternative when he launched Walk-in Wills in a highly visible and easily accessible shopping center in Albuquerque, right between an ice cream parlor and a beauty shop. He offered middle-income families the opportunity to work with a real attorney with extensive experience. He offered free phone calls, straight-talk answers, and upfront, low-cost, flat-fee pricing. He offered prompt completion of his legal services. His business model turned out to be a smart solution to a vexing problem, resulting in many satisfied clients and a rewarding service experience for him.

 

When I saw Matt's office, I knew his approach would be a much better way to serve my clients. Fortunately for me, Matt was willing to work with me to build the first Walk-in Wills prototype outside of New Mexico. Creating my own Walk-in Wills office in Orlando has become my "Something Big." I've found renewed energy and abundant creativity. I haven't had this much fun in a long, long time.

I'm excited to announce that Walk-in Wills PLLC is now open in Orlando in a Publix shopping center at the very busy intersection of University and Dean Road, right off SR 417. Our address is 10069 University Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32817, and our telephone number is 407-725-7055.  

We offer professional, affordable, and convenient legal services for middle-income families and individuals. If you're among the 70% of adult Americans who need wills, living trusts, living wills, and more, we would be happy to help you. You're invited to call for an appointment, visit our website at www.WalkinWills.com , or better yet, why don't you just come by and "walk in" to our new office? We'd love to see you there.