Chef Gordon Ramsey has a television show titled Kitchen Nightmares where he goes into a failing restaurant and turns it around in a matter of days. What is amazing is that all these restaurants suffer from the same problems and he offers the same solutions, whether they are Italian or Mexican or Thai or whether they are high-end steakhouses or middle-of-the-road family style restaurants. And what is even more amazing is that the advice he offers these restaurateurs applies to any business or for that matter any law practice.

 Simplify. A restaurant can’t have 100 items on its menu and you can’t be an expert in everything. Find an area that you are passionate about, master it and become an expert on it.

 Find the passion. You became a lawyer for a reason. Search out that reason and reignite your passion. Many of the restaurants Ramsey encounters are just going through the motions and it shows in the food they serve. The same holds true in the work product we serve our clients.

Don’t cut corners. Often these restaurants are dying because they are using frozen foods and cheap ingredients. Ironically, by spending more they earn more through customer loyalty.

 Likewise, take the time to give your clients the best and invest in yourself to ensure you are on top of all the latest legal trends.

 Waste not. Gordon goes into one restaurant’s cooler after another to find piles of food going to waste. As lawyers, time is our most important ingredient. Spend it wisely by making the most of the opportunities to develop yourself and your practice.

 Be honest with yourself. When Ramsey first goes into a restaurant, he orders several items off the menu and then proceeds to give a blunt and honest assessment, often peppered with expletives because the food is so bad. Likewise, be brutally honest with yourself about your weaknesses and devise a plan on addressing them.

 Develop a name. Ramsey often goes into restaurants and helps them make a name for themselves for one item – the best meatballs, the best shepherd pie, or even the best gravy. Find the one area of law you can shine in and make yourself a name in that area.

 Get your hands dirty. Often the restaurateurs are shocked to see that their restaurants are serving frozen food, that their kitchens are dirty or that their customers hate the food or the service. Learn how your firm works. The business side, the marketing, the rainmaking, the day-to-day administration. The more you understand how your firm works the more prepared you are in making it and you better.

 Every week, Ramsey gives the same advice to the most diverse of establishments. Most of the advice is common sense and most translates into any business. Do yourself a favor and catch an old episode or two on Hulu. You’ll be surprised how much he will teach you.

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