People hire professional services firms to reduce their risk of adverse outcomes. For example: I could draft my contract, but if I hire an attorney to do it, I have more confidence that I can enforce that contract. I could design my website, but if I hire a web design company, I believe it will be easier to navigate, get higher search rankings, and produce more leads. I could get a logo designed on Fiverr, but if I hire a branding agency, I'll get a mark that will last and will communicate more effectively to my target market. The money I spend hiring those experts reduces my risk of adverse outcomes and increases the likelihood that it will get done (and done well). What … [Read more...]
How adaptable is your new business strategy?
My wife and I have gotten hooked on the History Channel series Alone They take ten people and drop them off in the wilderness with the bare minimum of tools, and they need to get water, fire, shelter, and food on their own. It’s fascinating to watch. One thing we’ve noticed is that almost all the contestants starve. Finding food consistently is the most challenging part of their survival. Some contestants make a plan before they come, and they lean into that plan, whether it gets them food or not. The ones who have the hardest time find food initially, but then the weather changes or for some other reason that strategy starts to fail. They keep going back to “what worked” when they … [Read more...]
What are you getting out of this?
When you started out on your entrepreneurial journey, what were you looking for? If you are like most people, you’ll answer some mix of, “I wanted to be your own boss,” have more control or freedom, try something new, and make more money. Also, if you’re like most people, you aren’t feeling as free or as wealthy as you thought you’d be at this point! The business journey isn’t a destination; you don’t “make it” one day. I’ve never seen a client wake up one day and say, “Ah-ha! Now I’m free. This is great!” Destinations are boring. I love this quote from Joesph Campbell: “People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. … [Read more...]
Who wants to be a lifeguard?
I spent a summer working as a lifeguard and, I’ve got to tell you, it was a pretty great job! Mostly I would twirl my whistle around my fingers, first one way, then the other. When kids were running, I’d yell at them, “No running on the deck!” The whole summer, I didn’t have to jump in the water to save anyone. It was a very chill summer job. Whistle twirling aside, Lifeguards have to remain vigilant for times when someone gets in over their head and gets in real danger. In those situations, they go from pretty-much worthless to the most valuable person around. They have the skills to prevent a horrible injury or death, and, for a precious few minutes, that skill is invaluable. The … [Read more...]
There are no bad clients…
There are no bad clients… ~Jason Swenk I heard Jason say this on a podcast recently, and I stopped in my tracks and rewound to listen to it again. There are no bad clients… “Of course there are bad clients, Jason! You ran an agency; you should know that!” Just listening to him say that made me think of all the times I had taught clients about qualifying prospects, about eliminating a$$holes, about setting solid expectations with clients right from the first conversation. For sure, there are “bad” clients: Clients who don’t want your brain, they just want to tell you what to create. Clients who don’t want to pay a fair price. Clients who are unwilling to do the work and … [Read more...]
Giving up the things you are good at.
I’m known for making amazing spreadsheets. I can whip up a spreadsheet that helps to illustrate a financial issue, or helps leaders to plan for the future, in no time. I have a color code that I use so folks don’t mess up my formulas. The charts that I create are clear and easy to understand. My clients love my spreadsheets. I've won prospects over by sending them a spreadsheet. But I don’t make spreadsheets anymore. When I was spending my time working on spreadsheets, I was stunting my company’s growth. The job of the business owner is to look further out, to focus on issues that impact the future of your business. Like: Identifying the future needs of your target … [Read more...]
How do you know that you are doing a good job? 🏆
The meeting I was having with my client kept getting interrupted. Every 8 minutes, someone would walk in with a question or something that needed his immediate approval. This parade didn’t seem to bother my client; in fact, I think he kind of liked it. He felt important and involved in the details of the work going out the door. He felt like he was adding a lot of value! So he was shocked when I told him that if this didn’t stop, his business was never going to grow. “But I’m so much better at this than any of them are! The work will suffer if I’m not the one doing it…this is what I’m good at!” And that’s the problem This is one of the significant transitions when your … [Read more...]
What would it mean to you to attract better clients?
What if you worked ALL DAY with clients who LOVE what you do, who are fully engaged in the process, and who want more from you in every meeting? What would that be like? There’s a secret formula to attracting those kinds of clients, Raise Your Prices! When you substantially raise your prices the only people who will work with you are those people who believe that your services are critical to their company’s success. They are more engaged (they’ve got more skin in the game) and have high expectations! What happens then? You will have a much sharper focus in your marketing. You need clear messages to attract those top-shelf clients. It’s going to mean that you only sell … [Read more...]
The riches are in the niches!
Most people start their business with a broad target. We throw some things up against the wall to see what sticks. Our biggest fear is that no one will buy, and so we try to sell to everyone! By trying to be everything to everyone, we weren’t the perfect thing for any client! Plus, we found ourselves selling projects we didn’t know how to deliver, and that’s a recipe for losing your shirt. This is why, as we start to get success, as we begin to gain traction, we must focus our offerings. We need to identify who our ideal target is, and get tight focused. Ideally, you are selling ONE signature service to one ideal customer. You are offering them the thing that they want the … [Read more...]
What are you going to tell your grandkids about 2020?
2020 started with protests in Hong Kong, then bushfires in Australia. In the US, we had impeachment hearings and an over 1000 point drop in the stock market. Then came COVID and shutdown/quarantine, which sent millions of workers into a long work-from-home (with children “e-learning”) experiment. That was just the first quarter. Since then, we’ve been through further roiling financial markets, the most significant drop in employment in US history, record low oil prices, worldwide anti-racism demonstrations, and we’ve still got a Presidential Election coming. If you are having a hard time forecasting where your business is headed or even figuring out how to measure progress toward your … [Read more...]
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