Wow! I can’t believe I am wrapping up my second year as a business owner – and I get to work from home!
If you haven’t yet I recommend you check out this reflection from my first year in business. These two years could not have been more different!
2021 was incredible and I learned so much as a business owner. I accomplished some great things this year like:
- being able to work from Florida for a month
- working only 4 days a week in February!
- travel, so much travel!
- my business is on track to revenue six figures this year! This is so exciting for me especially since I am only two years deep.
While all of these things are great perks, I really want to reflect on a big personal win I have had with addressing one of my biggest fears. Not that I really had a choice!
My entire life I have been really sensitve to failure. I’m that person who won’t set goals because I’m afraid I won’t complete them. I will run myself into the ground trying to meet deadlines for fear of not getting something done well before it is due.
If you’ve been around me you have probably heard me say “it’s okay to say no to someone you don’t want to work with.” While that’s true, this stems from my fear of failing people. Not only that, my fear of losing a client.
Don’t get me wrong, I still wholeheartedly believe that you are 100% in charge of who you want to work with. This is your business dammit and you should be able to sign the clients you want to sign! However, this did not stem from confidence or a giant surge of entrepreneurialism. This came from my fear of letting people down.
I can’t lose a client if I don’t work with them!
When I first started my business I was more afraid of losing a client than I was of not making any money. Credit cards are there for a reason. If you’re a people pleaser you get it. The thought of someone not getting value out of the services I offer gives me some pretty extreme anxiety.
I like to think I do an incredible job of safety proofing my business from the likelihood that I will ever have to face the occurrence of this head on. I pitch to my ideal client. I host valuable discovery calls and ensure that the client is well aware that I will be sending over a proposal outlining some options. I follow up with them. If they hit any of my red flags I politely tell them we are not a good fit but that I can absolutely recommend another contractor.
Despite all of these precautions my bubble was burst about six months ago when I lost my first client.
I was somewhat expecting it as the client had offboarded over half of her clientele and moved halfway around the world. It still stung and I scrambled to make sure that this did not happen again.
But of course it happened again four months ago. I went over all of the excuses time and time again in my head. “They cancelled because the person who hired me left the company and the owner doesn’t see the value in digital marketing.” Done.
Whether or not this is true it really doesn’t matter. I’ve lost two clients. Are there things I could have done differently? Yes. Would it have changed the outcome? Probably not.
All that being said I’m coming to terms with the fact that losing clients is a part of the business. I still hate the thought of it but I don’t use it as a mark of business failure like I once did.
Rather I try to look at the things I helped those clients accomplish during their time with me. Not everyone will be a part of your business forever and that is 100% okay.
I hope you enjoyed this reflection from my second year in business! I would love to know in the comments the biggest personal growth moment you’ve had as a business owner!