Published Friday, November 30, 2007
in Strategic eNews
This article continues our discussion of how to create structures that support the life you want, with a focus on freedom of relationship.
As an entrepreneur, you’re free, theoretically, to make the choice about whom you’d like to work with. Ideally, this means you’re free to choose to have relationships only with people who support you in creating the kind of life you want. While most entrepreneurs understand this from an intellectual perspective, few actually experience this freedom in day-to-day life. In fact, many entrepreneurs experience exactly the opposite: Client, team, and personal relationships represent complexity and leave them feeling frustrated and boxed in. Here are a few tips on how the best entrepreneurs approach relationships to make sure the right people are around them to support their continued growth and happiness.
If you’re like most entrepreneurs, when you started your business, almost anyone who could write you a cheque could become a client. Over time, though, you learned to be more discerning. You learned that some clients appreciate what you do for them more than others do. Some clients willingly pay for the value you create; others begrudge every penny or don’t pay on time. Some say great things about you to friends and colleagues, while others only speak up when they’re unhappy. Learning this makes it possible to put in place a structure to ensure better client relationships in the future. Once you figure out the characteristics of your best clients, you can use them to assess potential new clients. It pays to be rigorous when setting standards, as the cost of taking on a client who’s not a right fit is expensive. It wastes your time and creativity as well as your team’s, and often creates messes because neither of you are meeting each other’s expectations.
The sheer volume of clients that entrepreneurs might accumulate also represents a huge area of complexity for many businesses. It’s easy to take on more and more clients without ever “clearing out” the ones who are no longer a fit for the business. After many years of focusing on getting new clients to ensure cash flow, it can seem counterintuitive to let any of them go. However, at some point, having too many clients actually slows down growth and reduces profitability. Clients who are no longer a fit represent a “drag” on a company’s systems: Their files take up room in the office, and the team’s time is taken up managing and servicing these client requests. If nothing else, they take up space in the entrepreneur’s mind that could instead be focused on new and better opportunities. If you’re feeling this way, it’s probably time to clean up your client base. Our clients consistently report that when they let go of old relationships that are no longer a fit, they experience an immediate and dramatic increase in their confidence, sales, and profitability.
The beauty of being an entrepreneur is that you’re free to design your support structure to leverage your specific skills, talents, and goals. You can create a completely customized support team to leverage and free you up, composed of your internal team, suppliers, and strategic partners. Very few other professionals have this luxury — they have to conform to corporate rules and norms. Though all entrepreneurs have this freedom, only a small number exercise it fully. If you’re like many entrepreneurs, you may have created a structure that has people fulfilling job functions, but not leveraging you. Investing in people to support your unique talents is one of the most strategic improvements you can make. An investment in you is an investment in the business, and it will pay off in terms of increased creativity and revenue.
What works best is to surround yourself with people who are growing and improving their talents and skills in ways that are aligned with the company’s growth goals. Only by constantly upgrading your support structure can you create increasing value for your clients. This may mean helping your team to grow, or if team members are going in a different direction, being unafraid to look for more capable support. One of the best ways to grow your team’s capability is to be unavailable some of the time by taking real time off. The more often team members are put in the position of making decisions, the more confident and capable they’ll become. While they do need your direction on what results are expected, they’ll grow much faster if they’re able to make, and learn from, their own mistakes.
As you continue to grow and create a bigger future, it’s important to have a community of like-minded friends. Very few people choose to challenge themselves to constantly learn and grow to the extent that you have. Be sure to cultivate a few personal relationships with people with whom you can share your big dreams and who will push you to do more. When you’re forging your own path, it’s much more fun if you don’t have to go it alone.
As an entrepreneur, you have the freedom to be discerning about what kind of relationships best serve you and your goals. Consciously choosing your clients, creating a customized support team, and having like-minded, growth-oriented friends are important parts of creating a life that works in every way.