4 Things SCUBA Diving Can Teach You About Business Success

I have really been looking forward to this week, partly because this week is a tangible representation of what can happen for you if you get serious about creating a plan for profit and freedom.

We are taking members out on the boat to do some SCUBA diving, and by the end of the week we’re all going to be SCUBA certified!

Many people don’t know this, but SCUBA is actually an acronym, it means:

S – Self

C – Contained

U – Underwater

B – Breathing

A – Apparatus

As I was preparing the boat for a busy week on the water, I got to thinking about SCUBA diving and realized there are a lot of similarities between SCUBA diving and running a business!

Here are 4 ways that learning to SCUBA dive can help you dive into profitable change.

  1. When you go SCUBA diving, you are carrying your own self-contained source of air to breath.

This is so you can move independently and freely, without worrying about constantly being tied down to an air source.

When you run your law firm like a successful small business, you gain an enthusiasm about your new life of complete personal responsibility that allows you the same freedom and independence.

You are no longer tethered to your business every day in order for it to run effectively (or at all), which allows you the freedom to step away from your business whenever you need or want to- as our members have done this week so they can hang out on the boat with me!

  1. Along with your self-contained air source, there is other equipment you’ll need in order to have a safe, efficient, and enjoyable dive.

SCUBA diving involves more than just a self-contained air source. In order to be certified as my members and I will be by the end of the week, you have to understand all of this equipment and the function it performs:

  • A mask– to improve underwater vision
  • Exposure protection– to protect you from the cold water below the surface
  • Buoyancy control equipment– to allow you to control your descent/ascent
  • Snorkel– for swimming on the surface

If any of this equipment is not present, then none of the rest matters or works efficiently.

This is similar to the policies, systems, and 7 Main Parts of your law firm which, when used correctly, are the tools you need to create a profitable, enjoyable, and efficient law firm.

When you have all the equipment for SCUBA diving, you can enjoy a safe, efficient, enjoyable dive. When you have all the policies, systems, and 7 Main Parts of your law firm in place and working together, you can enjoy the life you envisioned for you and your family.

  1. A diver must monitor the depth and duration of a dive to avoid decompression sickness.

Decompression sickness is no joke.

Unless the maximum depth of the dive is quite shallow, a diver must know exactly what depth he is at and must not surface too quickly.

Otherwise they may suffer decompression sickness, which is caused by the formation of nitrogen bubbles in the tissue of the body, due to a sudden reduction in pressure (decompression).

This can cause extreme pain in the muscles and joints, cramps, numbness, nausea, and even paralysis.

Similarly, in business you can guess and project accordingly, but without knowing the REAL numbers the results can be disastrous.

It’s always best to be monitoring these numbers continuously. You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Know your numbers, HIT your numbers.

  1. All SCUBA dives are carefully planned to ensure divers do not exceed their comfort zone or equipment capacity.

The purpose of dive planning is to ensure divers stay within their skill level, and also includes scuba gas planning which ensures that the diver brings enough air not only to safely complete the dive as planned, but also to allow for any contingencies needed during the dive.

In the same way, your business plan ensures that each of the 7 Main Parts of your business is optimized and performing at full capacity.

When written and utilized correctly, a solid business plan ensures that your level and pace of growth is appropriate for your current stage of growth.

It’s vital that you plan and find appropriate guidance when creating your business plan, so that you are prepared for anything that might come.

If you want to know more about what How to Manage a Small Law Firm can do to help you with your business plan so that you can one day step away and get SCUBA certified (or anything else you want to do!), please schedule an appointment with a member of my team. They’ll be glad to answer all your questions and help get you on the road to success!

And if you want to get a jumpstart on your own business plan, you can download a FREE copy of the Business Plan Workbook right here.