Can you imagine Walmart selling high-end jewelry? Could the company evolve, over time, into Tiffany & Co.?

Visualize the jewelry department at Walmart where watches and inexpensive rings, bracelets, and necklaces are sold. Walmart carries lots of really cheap stuff, but it also carries some more expensive items. Well, when I say expensive, I don’t mean “Tiffany” expensive, but it’s more expensive than the really cheap stuff.

Mostly, however, Walmart sells the really cheap stuff. It has watches that are knockoffs of Timex watches and sell for a just a few dollars. It has some jewelry that redefines cheap. Some of their stuff wishes it were made in China.

I’m not down on Walmart. In fact, my watch-obsessed daughter has been wearing cheap watches from Walmart since she was about three years old. Its stuff is perfect in many situations.

Can Walmart Change Its Image?

But can you imagine Walmart transforming into Tiffany?

• Could it slap up some nice drywall around the jewelry department and install some beautiful drapes and wall coverings?
• Could it upgrade the display cases and add some nice seating?
• Could it swap out the staff and completely change the inventory?

If it did all of that, would Walmart become Tiffany?

Of course not. There’s no way—not in a million years—that Walmart becomes Tiffany. Walmart will always be Walmart for us, and it will always be a great big place selling lots of stuff at really low prices. It won’t be Tiffany no matter how hard it tries.

If you accept my premise that Walmart will always be Walmart, then I have to ask you to switch gears and think about law practices.

Are Law Firms Any Different?

I meet lots of lawyers who explain their strategy to me as follows:

“I’m starting out by undercutting the market and offering low prices on a variety of services. I’m taking traffic tickets, family law cases, some auto accidents, and other miscellaneous matters, and I’m doing it at very low prices so people can afford my services.”

Basically, they’re saying, “I’m Walmart.”

They continue explaining, “As I get more experience and build my reputation, I’m going to narrow down the scope of my practice and take higher and higher end clients. I’m going to focus on fewer cases and a single area of the law. At that point, I’m going to drill down and become more expert in that area.”

Basically, they’re saying, “And then I’m going to become Tiffany.”

Huh?

If Walmart can’t do it, neither can these lawyers.

You Have to Choose Your Niche

These lawyers made a choice and positioned themselves in the market as the low-end price leader. They created a brand for their practice. Brands don’t evolve very much. More or less, they get bigger doing the same things. When they start “evolving,” they’re usually headed for failure.

“But,” they say, “If I’m expensive, I won’t have any clients.”

That might be true. But if you’re cheap, you’re always going to be Walmart.

You’ve got to pick. You aren’t likely to evolve.