For a minute, let’s imagine that there are two parallel worlds.

In one world, we’ll call it the rosy world; opportunity is plentiful.

When you need new business, you can find it. Not just any client, but good profitable clients who value you at your best.

When I meet clients living in the rosy world, they price aggressively and are conscientious about throwing bad prospects out before they become clients. They have well-defined ideal clients and understand clearly the work those clients want to buy. They stick to their knitting, only taking deals that “fit.”

In the other world, we’ll call it the thorny world; opportunity is scarce.

We have to hunt to find leads, and when we find them, they engage us for work that we don’t love with people we’re not sure about – but it’s work – so we take it anyway.

Clients in the thorny world feel a little desperate – they are worried about payroll, and anybody who wants to hire them looks good. As a result, they end up serving some “difficult” clients, they’ve got some projects that don’t make much money, and their portfolio is a hodgepodge of work that doesn’t attract anyone specifically.

How do I get from the thorny world into the rosy world?

I’m curious.

What advice would you give to an agency founder living in the thorny world?

How hard do you think it is to move to the rosy world?

Hit reply; I’d love to hear your answer!

And, if you are living in the thorns and want to move, hit reply and let me know. We can get on the phone and talk about what you see and what the next step might look like for you.