Why Clients Should Not Be The Core Of Your Business

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At some point, we began to believe that clients are the backbone of our business. 

Maybe it's because:

• we're taught cash is the lifeblood of our business and we equate clients with that cash.
• we're chasing impact and we see those clients as our impact in the world.
• that allows us to avoid the confrontation of actually holding our boundaries.

Whatever the reason we start looking at what we can offer that they want to buy. We put their decision ahead of what's going to work for us. And as that continues, as we get more and more successful, we get caught in a grip by our business, tighter and tighter until all of those dreams of freedom and flexibility are crushed out of us with exhaustion and burden.

Let's reframe all of that today. I want you to picture your business as a little stick man.

The Head

The first thing we usually draw is the head of the stick man because the head guides the body. It has the vision and steers the body in the direction that it needs to go. 

This is you in your business. Not just because you're in charge of your business, but because you are designed to think for, and steer that business towards your goals. You get to decide if you run, walk, stop, pivot, or stay in the same spot.

You as the head control everything in the business.

The Legs

If you go to the opposite end of the body at the bottom, you have those two legs holding us up.

This is what the business stands on. This is what moves it forwards or pulls it back under the direction of the head. 

Think of the two legs as admin and operations with admin being legal, financial, and monitoring of your business, and operations being your team and systems. 

The Arms

Next, think about those arms reaching out with jazz hands at the end.

Those jazz hands are your marketing. They’re waving at people to get attention, to bring attention to your body. 

The arms then draw those people in close to you. They are sales, closing clients, and bringing them into your business.

The Backbone

But something is missing – the piecing connecting your head, the goals, and the visions to your sales and your marketing to your admin and your finance and your legal and your team and your systems. What is at the core of your business?

Note: If you need to attract clients by waving your hands, your clients can't be at the core of your business.

 The thing that actually creates the cash, that has the lifeblood circulating in your business, that tells sales and marketing what to do, that tells operations and systems what you need is your OFFERS!

And here's the key – if you are the head of the business if you are driving towards the vision and goals if you are choosing the direction, how can that not be included in your offers? 

Our offers can’t start externally with, “What does a client want?”

 It has to start internally with what feels good to you or the core of your business is not going to make you happy or make you feel like you are showing up at your best. 

The Challenge

My challenge for you is to look at your office and ask yourself if these have been created from a client perspective or from a business perspective. This may feel hard to distinguish at first so ask yourself how you feel delivering those offers. 

Are those arms that should be reaching out actually twisted around your body slowly but surely wrapping you in a vice grip until you've forgotten what freedom and flexibility feels like and all you're experiencing is exhaustion and burnout?