NFIB

Chatting With the Enemy
04/ 01/ 2004

by Michael Helfand

I am the gatekeeper of information about my business. If reporters, clients or competitors want to know more about how our online attorney-referral business operates, I take the call. It's not that my colleagues -- who happen to be 30 of Chicago's finest lawyers -- aren't extremely capable. It's just that I learned my lesson the hard way.

Three years ago, I was working in a well-respected law firm. Since I always tried to give my clients superior service, I never hesitated to admit my lack of exper- tise if a case came along in an area outside of my specialty. I'd quickly refer clients to an attorney who had good experience in areas like divorce, real estate, or, even a few times, equine law.

Others in my firm commonly referred clients as well, and out of this system grew a fairly impressive contact list of some of the best attorneys in Illinois. It worked so well that in 2001, we decided to open this referral system to people beyond our client base and launched FindGreatLawyers.com.

Interest in the business was immediate. No one could believe that there was such a thing as free advice from a lawyer. (Note: The state of Illinois allows attorneys to receive referral fees, with a client's permission.) My two other partners and I were glowing with the opportunities before us. We had a great idea, and we knew it. Our biggest goal was to add even more well-respected attorneys to our database.

And then the phone call came. It was from one of the most prominent lawyers in the state. He was interested in our business and wanted to know more about how we operated. So I started talking. I was so psyched about the possibility of adding this person to our list. I wanted to prove to him that we had a great business model. I wanted him to be so impressed that he'd agree to a partnership on the spot. I told him everything he'd ever wanted to know about how we worked.

A few months later that conversation came back to haunt me. Through word-of-mouth, I discovered that the attorney who would have been a jewel in our crown had stolen our idea. Using all the details I provided, he had launched a Web site offering the exact same type of services. Luckily for us, his business was a bust. He didn't anticipate the time and effort we spend on the business every day, and he closed up shop before we had even noticed his scam.

It was then that I realized the fine line I had to walk. I wanted so badly for our business to succeed. But I couldn't get so caught up in short-term dollars that I didn't use my long-term business sense. I had to divulge just enough information about our business to keep outsiders interested -- without revealing too much of our strategy.

We were lucky that our would-be scammer failed before he did too much damage. But it was the perfect wake-up call to a new small-business owner: Guarding your brand today is more important than any pie-in-the-sky promise for tomorrow.

Michael Helfand is co-founder of Chicago-based www.FindGreatLawyers.com.

---

This article originally appeared in the April/May 2004 issue of MyBusiness magazine.

Small Business Sound Off
Does this story hit home?  Share your story with us