Yet again, Christine Kane hits home with her recent newsletter talking about steps to decluttering and the excuses we use to keep clutter in our lives. This got me thinking of how business owners often do the same thing with their business. Decluttering your life…Including your business!
With Spring officially only a few weeks away, though here in northern Michigan it may hang on for a while, I thought I’d provide some excuses business owners use to keep clutter in their business and what you need to do about it.
Excuse #1 – I can’t stand work with this client!
If you wake up in the morning dreading the client call, meeting, or project with a particular client that is difficult to work with it’s time to reassess and deal with it.
If you truly can’t stand to work with them, if they repeat patterns that you’ve had discussions about, or they’re not listening to your advice that they are paying you for then ditch ‘em! Yes! Toss them to curb (mind you, you probably want to be a bit nicer than that when you do).
But! You’re probably screaming what about that revenue! Yes, it’s frightening. Yes, it’s nerve-racking, but I’m guessing you didn’t get into business for yourself to deal with people you don’t like working with. That’s probably a reason you left the corporate world.
Excuse #2 – I can’t afford to get rid of this client I can’t stand
This ties into excuse number one and yes all things considered in these economic times it’s a somewhat reasonable excuse, but it’s still just an excuse!
Here’s a reality check you’re likely spending so much energy on this client that you dislike that you can’t focus on the clients you do like, let alone any of the other tasks you need to take care of every day? (BTW…how have you been sleeping since you took on this nasty client?).
Let the client go and watch what happens. A weight will be lifted, your energy shifts and opportunities will arrive. Yes, you can ask just about anyone, they’d experienced this in one way or another. It works you only have so much energy to give and if you spend it all on a client you can’t stand then that’s where it goes as does your revenue.
Excuse #3 – I can’t seem to get myself organized to do <insert task or project here
All of us are great at something, good at others, and absolutely can’t stand other tasks, or maybe you just feel you should learn how to do everything. NO! This is more clutter. You started your business to do or build something you love, why waste your time and money on things that you don’t like, aren’t good at, or don’t have the time or inclination to learn?
Every business has certain tasks that need to be done no matter what, but it might not be what you’re great at. You need to focus your time on the areas of your business that make you great and generate revenue for you.
Yes, you might need to spend some of that revenue to outsource certain tasks or to hire a Virtual Assistant or Online Business Manager to manage the business, but in the long run, it’s going to benefit you and remove the clutter that has been blocking your success!
Do any of these excuses resonate with you? Can you acknowledge an excuse you’ve been using in your business? If so, share in the discussion I’d love to hear from you.