Over the past decade, Sterling Lawyers has grown from a single suburban Milwaukee office to 26 locations across Wisconsin and Illinois, with 25+ family attorneys generating over $15 million in revenue.
This expansion strategy has been a significant driver of our growth—but it hasn’t come without painful and expensive lessons along the way.
One Very Expensive Mistake
One of our most expensive lessons came early in our journey when adding a location in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
This southern Milwaukee suburb of about 60,000-70,000 people seemed perfect on paper:
- Ideal income demographics (not overly affluent, but stable)
- Strong family population
- Good geographic coverage for our territorial analysis
- Reasonable driving distance from our main office
So why did it fail? Looking back, we were completely focused on the wrong things.
I’ll own this particular mistake—it was my brainchild.
I had read somewhere about making offices uniform across locations, similar to how franchise operations like Chick-fil-A maintain consistent aesthetics. I thought our law firm needed the same approach.
We poured around $50,000 into building walls and flooring in this brand-new location, then spent another $50,000-$60,000 on furniture.
I even selected a vendor that could provide identical furniture for every future location so they would all look exactly the same.
In retrospect, this made absolutely no sense.
Our clients weren’t going to get divorced in Oak Creek and then drive to Appleton for a second divorce, appreciating the consistent decor along the way.
Yet we spent countless leadership hours debating artwork and design elements, taking focus away from building the systems and processes that actually matter for multi-location success.
What We’ve Learned After 25+ Location Openings
After opening 25+ locations, we’ve developed a clear model for efficient satellite offices:
Size and Layout
- Ideal size: Approximately 600 square feet
- Configuration: Small entrance area with a few chairs, plus two office rooms
- Room 1: Set up with a conference table for client meetings
- Room 2: Equipped with a desk, monitors, and docking station for attorney work
We found that anything bigger just doesn’t work—it gets used too infrequently to justify the cost. It’s very rare where two team members are going to need it at the exact same time.
Technology and Equipment
- Wall-mounted TV in the conference room for document presentation
- Wi-Fi-connected door locks with keypads (around $250 per door plus $7/month per door)
- Minimal, comfortable furnishings—enough to be presentable but not memorable
The door lock system has been particularly valuable, giving us data on how frequently each office is used.
This data helped us optimize our cleaning schedules and other operational decisions when we discovered some satellite offices were only being used once every three months.
Hub vs. Satellite Approach
We now think carefully about our “hub and spoke” model before opening new locations.
Hubs are staffed offices where teams work regularly, while satellites are unstaffed meeting spaces used as needed.
If you can identify your hub and spoke potential model before you really start investing in locations, it’s going to be a benefit. You might find where you started your first location might actually be better as a satellite office.
Blueprint for Smarter Expansion
Our most expensive recent hub office in Naperville cost us around $30,000 to set up—far less than the $100,000+ we spent on our early Oak Creek location.
By shifting our focus from aesthetics to functionality, we’ve created a much more efficient expansion model.
The true value of satellite offices comes from their ability to provide convenient meeting locations for clients and attorneys while securing valuable Google Maps listings in multiple locations.
When designed and operated efficiently, this approach can significantly accelerate your firm’s growth—without breaking the bank on unnecessary frills.
If you’d like to learn more about optimizing your firm’s website for multi-location growth, contact Tony at akarls@RocketClicks.com.
