This might be a long one… so sit down, grab a drink and dig in with me.
Two clients. Same process with two very different results.
The process is simple: know your numbers, create a plan, and then execute that plan fully and with all the support you need to keep going!
Client A –
She came to coaching with a failing business. She didn’t know her numbers. She was basically giving away services so her business was never making a profit. It was unsustainable and every month she was bleeding money and going into debt. She was overpaying her employees and not trusting them to contribute at a higher level. She had, effectively, no marketing and the phone wasn’t ringing enough. She was working a TON of hours and killing herself to keep it all afloat.
We laid out a plan for how to get the ship turned around.
She got her numbers on paper and could see clearly for the first time just how she was undercharging for her services. She made price adjustments and had a new price schedule for new clients.
We laid out a plan to strengthen her team and have them take over some of the work she was doing.
We created a marketing plan with many funnels and a sales strategy to convert her leads into clients.
She had the plan, implemented the initial few steps, felt like she was ready to run with it and ended her coaching. “I’ve GOT this!” She was very excited to now go off and implement on her own.
Fast forward six months and she’s miserable. She’s now crying that her business was “fine” before she started coaching and now she’s ruined.
What happened?
Well, she raised her prices, made price adjustments and then didn’t implement the rest of the plan.
She didn’t follow the whole marketing plan because it didn’t feel comfortable to her and wasn’t what she was doing “before.” She listened to other people who told her “you don’t need to do that! Do this other thing over here…” She essentially reverted to what she was doing before.
She didn’t trust her employees to contribute more. She didn’t follow the whole “employee happiness” plan – just picked the parts that she wanted to implement. She didn’t have employees who really wanted to stay or felt appreciated and they left. Employees ALWAYS leave, it’s the nature of business – we just want them to stay as long as possible. She wasn’t attracting great people to replace them when they did leave.
She didn’t continue to get the support for her own development and growth that would hold her hand and keep the “monkey mind” in check when it got tough or confusing to her.
She’s miserable, and has the plan but doesn’t believe that it can work because she’s not willing to follow all the steps. Those pieces are in the plan because they are important, not optional!
And now she’s right – she’s now in a position where she can see that her business is not sustainable with what she was doing but also hasn’t done everything she needed to do in order to have a wholly new “machine.” She’s right that we’ve ruined her because she can also see that she’s the problem and you can’t stick your head in the sand “believing” it’s all good when it’s not and you now know it.
Well that sucks.
Now let’s talk about Client B.
Client B –
She came into coaching with an idea for a business. She left her day job in order to pursue her dream business. She had been doing drone work for someone else but had the training and the aspiration to do something more.
A plan was laid out. She got clarity about the numbers in her business and how to keep her pricing aligned with a profitable business. She started implementing.
It wasn’t easy. She actually had a few things working against her. It took MUCH longer than some of her peers. She had her marketing working but wasn’t converting conversations into clients – it was brutal. It felt like SHE was the thing in the way of her own success.
She kept on coaching, despite it being expensive when rent was due. She kept reaching out for guidance and support. She kept digging in to “what can I do better?” and “Is there something else I can do today?”
When her confidence was failing, she leaned on her coaches and trainers.
Almost a year later, she’s finally making the income and booking the business that she knew was possible. Is she done? NO! She’s still leaning in and looking for that next tier.
She knows it’s not ever going to be easy, but she’s doing it anyway.
One is suffering from giving up, one is celebrating because she didn’t give up.
They had similar plans (different businesses and industries): know your numbers, create a plan, execute that plan without stopping! Execute, evaluate, revise and repeat. (Rinse and repeat.)
Client B had so many reasons to give up. She still has challenges that will push against her every day. She is also fierce and committed to not giving up on herself or her dreams. Inner steel.
When you don’t have inner steel, when you can’t see past that monkey mind, then you can lean on your team. Your team is your mentors, your business peers (not social peers, they rarely understand what it is to be you!), your coaches and your trainers.
We are here to see you through.
One of my coaches once told me “I am here to hold your dreams up when you lay them down.”
Who is holding your dreams for you?
I’m just over here dream catching-
Jenell
