More Clients ≠ Better Life.
It takes courage to grow a business AND have a life. But it is possible.
When you first started your business, you implemented the say-yes-to-everyone strategy. You probably had a lot of great ideas, welcomed every type of client with open arms, and busted your butt trying to please them. You created a range of products to serve everyone. Some clients were happy and stayed for the long ride. Other clients gave up on you even if you spent precious resources you really didn’t have to try to keep them alive.
Fast forward today, growth feels stuck on repeat. You are doing all the right things, but your marketing is falling on deaf ears (helloooo…..anybody out there…….?). You feel pressure from your clients, prospects, and competitors to lower your prices. (How low can you go…?) You can’t take on any more business because you can’t work any more hours. You are feeling burned out and unsure how to continue to grow. (Can somebody help me off this hamster wheel????).
You are struggling in a neverending cycle of sell it–do it, sell it–do it, sell it–do it that leaves you feeling desperate, hopeless, trapped. No matter how many all-nighters you pull, no matter how many kids’ soccer games you miss, you can’t seem to get anywhere near the multimillion-dollar mark, much less beyond it. Secretly you want to scream “Help! Something’s got to give.”
Sounds like you?
If yes then you’ve become a slave to your business. It owns you — and it’s kicking your ass. And if you’re being really honest, even though the rest of the world thinks you’re a big-time (or rising) entrepreneur, sometimes it feels like your business is quicksand and you’re sinking down right in the middle of it, not a tree branch in sight.
The truth is, you can’t afford to be a slave to your business. If you don’t change your business strategy, you’ll never make it. You’ll kill yourself trying to build a multimillion-dollar business, but in the end, you’ll be a broken, bitter man living off Social Security and looking back on a lifetime of disappointment. That’s a scary place to be in.
“Okay. What do I have to do?”
What got you here won’t get you there.
You didn’t start your business because you wanted to blend in, make enough to get by, and save enough to pay for the nursing home. You went into business because you wanted to grow something amazing, something that would dramatically change the quality of your life, something that could make a difference in the world.
I want you to picture this…
What if you knew for sure that new prospects would respond to your best efforts? What if instead of serving different types of clients, you put all of your time and energy into the most awesome, most promising, most valuable clients? What if you didn’t have to spend time or money trying to serve or get a bunch of different clients in different ways?
How would your business be?
How would your life be?
I am going to step in and answer for you. If you were working only for these awesome clients you’d be happy, fulfilled, and most likely rich. You would be operating in your sweet spot.
But you don’t.
There’s good news. You’re already sitting on your sweet spot, you just have to define and own it.
What’s your sweet spot?
According to Mike Michalowicz and his book “The Pumpkin Plan”, your sweet spot is the place where your best clients and the best part of your business meet. This is the place where your favorite customers are able to derive maximum benefit from the systematized, core process that drives your business.
To define your sweet spot, you need to dare to be selective, focused, and be exactly who you are. You need to let your business be an amplification of your authentic self.
But it all begins by first defining who your top clients are.
Just think of them as the people you most want to work with — those who give you the most business, have reasonable expectations, and communicate well. I know you have a shortlist of fave clients whom you prioritize without a second thought, so let’s go with them for right now. And, if you’re just starting out and don’t have clients, just picture your ideal client. This should be easy because your ideal clients should be a lot like you. They should share your interests, values, principles, aspirations and have a similar personality and approach to business.
In many ways, your best customers are like your best friends. They like you and you like them. Everything is easy between you because you “get” each other, you respect each other, you have fun together. Plus, you each get something great out of the relationship: they get a service they need and you get the premium they’re willing to pay for it.
It’s time to stop wasting your time working with clients that may or may not work out. Instead, work only with the client that you know has the very best chance of making it, and then focus your attention, money, time, and other resources on that tight niche of clients until all of your entrepreneurial dreams come true.
Summary
Business is not a popularity contest. Don’t worry about having the most clients. Build a business that caters to the best clients…the clients who are the best fit for you. You don’t need to be the prom queen; you want a core group of steadfast, amazing friends who would do anything for you, and you, anything for them. Be consistent with who you are, and never compromise. When everything is in alignment with your basic qualifiers and your philosophy — including your client roster — new, like-minded, awesome clients will flock to you. They’ll hear about you, read about you, stumble upon you and say, “Oh, I love him. I love her! I know him. I know her!”
More is not better. Better is better.
If you want to assess your client roster, define your best-fit clients and take the guess-work out of your brand’s growth strategy then I have something for you.
