Transcript 0:00 I'm going to just share my really unpublished, less polished thoughts around money, business finances, being a micro business, staying intentionally small, et cetera. 0:13 So where most of my unpublished, unpolished thoughts live on these topics is in my content ideas database. So I have a ton of ideas in there, and not all of them make it outside of that database. 0:28 So what I'm going to do is use this as the first step to get out of there, and then if it's something I wanna share further, then I can like polish it up from there. 0:40 But hopefully at least this will make it out and at least help someone besides just me. So for today's topic, I'm just g- literally gonna look at my database and go down from like newest to oldest, 0:56 and we'll s- see how far I make it down. So for today's topic, it's about how I approach losing a client, so I'm looking for new work out of positivity, not panic. 1:08 That's like the title I have for this idea in the database. And I wrote this here because I feel like for two reasons. I've talked to several people who... 1:24 W- like when I t- when I told them about... I'm going backwards. So reason one, I've, I have lost some clients recently. They're transitioning on, 1:33 'cause like their workload is past how, what I could support them to/they like have a new tax person who also bundles the bookkeeping all together, so they're transitioning on. 1:45 And so I've lo- it's been a, like a few clients all at the same time. Normally it's just people one at a time. But since it's se- a few at the same time, it's like a recent topic for me that I'm dealing with. And then 2:02 when I have just mentioned like clients transitioning on, other people have, has a question, basically li- like a question or reaction of, "How do you deal with that?" Or, "What do you do?" 2:19 And I guess 'cause I don't look like I'm freaking out panicking, people just are like, "How are you dealing with that?" 2:26 And so that's why I just dumped this idea into my database 'cause it's, yeah, how do I approach losing it so I'm not like freaking out or panicking? And 2:36 I wrote some notes, but first I'm just gonna talk it through and then I'll look back at the notes to make sure I didn't miss anything. So how I approach it... 2:44 So first of all, why I wanna approach it this way is because trying to find anything out of desperation just does not work very well. 2:54 You might get results, but will it be the kind of results you like, and especially long-term? Maybe not. And so I'm s- I'm trying to optimize for like long-term. So if I get it, is it something I want to keep? 3:07 And that includes like work or clients. So I don't wanna get clients out of desperation or take on work out of desperation. 3:15 And then also because past experience, I have taken work that maybe I wasn't super enthused about, but just for the money, and then 3:24 like regretted it just 'cause it f- it turned out to be more work or more of a headache or stress than the money. And then like if I just waited a little bit longer, this other opportunity opened up too. 3:38 And so sometimes I think what... I'm trying to think of a specific example and I can't, and I think it was 'cause it was like early on w- in my work. 3:46 But I think what I would do is just try to take on that, the new opportunity so that I would have double the work and stress, versus if I just waited, I would've just had the one good opportunity and less stress. 3:59 So trying to remember that, like if I can just wait a little bit. Now, how long can I wait? So that's another thing I have to know. How long can I wait so that I'm waiting and not stressing or panicking? 4:13 So there's a term, runway, that's used in the startup world or corporate world where they're b- starting a business and they want to know how much runway they have or burn rate of c- cash burn rate. And all that really 4:31 summary, simple definition is how long will the cash we have last if we don't h- bring in any more in- money? And I guess that's why they say a runway. Like how long will this money run until we use it all up, 4:47 if no other money comes in? 4:49 And so I do have an idea of that for my own personal finances and business finances, 'cause I keep them separate, 'cause it, it makes it really clear to see who's in more trouble, personal or business. 5:02 Or not trouble, but just who has a shorter runw- runway. 5:05 And obviously if my personal has a runway and my business has a runway, then technically that's like my personal has almost, not double runway, but it has an extra long runway because the money from the business goes into my personal finances. 5:18 But if personal's fine and I notice the business cash is looking pretty short, like it needs some extra help, then I can decide what to do versus if the business looks fine, but personal finances 5:34 it's, it's looking like it needs a little extra help, a little extra cash, then I can decide do I wanna take from the business a little bit more than I usually do or some other way to cover that gap. 5:46 So that's the other thing, knowing how long I can wait because knowing that, oh, I'll be fine for the next three months versus, oh within the next month I need to do, get some extra cash in. 6:01 That's a different vibe, it's a different feeling, and so knowing I can wait helps me not panic too. So yeah, I wanted to summarize what I just said, but this is not polished, so just, we're just gonna keep going. 6:16 The other reason it's important for me to know how much... Im- it's important for me not to panic and stress out and try to get work out of desperation, is because for, 6:30 uh, like bookkeeping business finances specifically, people typically take some time before they work with me. It's a longer sales cycle, like three to six months minimum, maybe longer. 6:44 And what I'm realizing is that the people who work with me right away versus the people who do take time to work with me, I pr- I prefer work... 6:54 I prefer the second group, so people who take a little bit more time to work with me. Those have been really great clients to work with. So again, I'm like, I don't wanna choose out of desperation. So I'm like, if I want 7:10 the kind of work that's better long-term, better for me, it's less stress. And then if it's less stress and just a better experience overall, then that translates into less cost, less expenses. 7:23 So I keep more of the money. I feel better keeping that money. S- and I'm like, "I want that," but that means I have to be comfortable waiting a little bit longer than just getting money right away, which is anybody. 7:38 And so that's the other thing. I want to design for that. So just designing for the fact that this is true, and what can I do to not be desperate, to be able to wait for people to be ready to work with me. 7:55 So that's another reason. And I also don't wanna be the kind of business where you pressure people to work with you either, just 'cause I need money right now. That's not their responsibility. 8:07 It's my business, my, my responsibility to get what I need. Obviously, yes, you can ask for support and help and share, but, uh, ultimately, it's not their responsibility to make sure your business keeps going. 8:20 So don't pressure other people to work with you. And yeah. So I, I think that's a good, maybe a good spot to end it. Hopefully, that was clear. I feel like I went in circles. 8:34 But, and then the other question is, do I still panic? Yeah, sometimes. Do I still feel stress? Yeah, sometimes. I would s- I would say yes, of course, just less than I used to. 8:46 Uh, I would say the stress and panic was way worse before, like year... I would even say maybe like last year too. Like, ev- each year it gets le- it's less and less, 'cause I think I just get... 8:59 It's not my first time and more experience. I try to remember how it, how things go last time I go through a transition. That's why I like the fact that I keep a journal, so I try to write things down. 9:13 I also like that I have my financial reports, like my profit and loss, just to see what happened month to month, year to year, and my numbers, so I can see that, yes, I have lost revenue before. 9:29 Yes, I'm making more now than I was before, and the last time I had this, I was making less, and we got, and I got through it, so I'll probably be fine this time. Just seeing that evidence is really helpful. 9:42 So that's why I like having bookkeeping records. That's, that can be part of the evidence, so that's really important and helpful. So it's not my first time. I have had evidence. 9:54 Also, just having a strategy for managing, again, all these moving parts, 'cause the future is uncertain. We don't know what's going to happen. 10:03 So even though you've been through it before, you still want to have a way to be able to adjust as needed, specifically for money, and because, like financially, 10:20 like it's me and my husband, but like my business is, especially for a wh- for s- for a couple of years, it was the main income. Like, the only income. 10:30 So it was really important to make sure that money was coming in through it. And then when it's not the only one, that does help, because then I can... If there's another income stream, then, 10:44 then I'll plug that into my little plan of like, okay, personal finances, what's coming in versus out. And then how does that affect the business for what's coming in and out? Can I like take out less from the business? 10:57 Can I wait? Or if I can't, maybe can I just save more on the personal side? So it's like this balancing act of these two different money systems. Yeah. 11:11 Which is why, like I said, that's why I like having this more of a system, so I can adjust over time instead of it being like, "This is the plan." Like, how much has to come in? How much has to go out? 11:20 I prefer more of a flexible one, 11:23 flexible way of managing it, because that way I don't feel like locked in or stuck, and then if I feel locked in or stuck, it's a lot harder to stick to the plan, because I, it feels like I'm trapped. 11:35 So having that flexibility reduces the feeling of being trapped, which means I'm more likely to stick to it, which means I'm more likely to go to my, reach my goals. And then one of my, 11:46 like one of the ways I feel like more financially free or financially in a good place, is that I don't have to worry as much about what I'm spending or what I'm getting. I would really like to reach that spot. 12:01 Oh, and the other obviously really big part of this side, so I was, I've been talking more about the, okay, how to manage money with- With the loss of a client, loss of revenue, and waiting for people, but it's also, like, how do you make sure you have new people coming in the first place, but to work with? 12:19 So that part, that one is really all about, like, sales and marketing and brand, which is not my s- specialization. 12:31 I've been reading a lot about it and learning about it, obviously, so I can only speak to what I'm still figuring out. But what I'm doing is, 12:40 again, having, like, evidence, like, where do people even come from and find me? And then wh- when I see oh, this is how people find me or end up working with me, then I just try to make sure that happens more often. 12:55 Like, put, focus my energy into that. And so for me, it's really just, like, talking to people, them getting to know me, I get to know them. And also, they are someone I can help though, and be like marketing, 13:13 sales space, I guess like your ICP, your ideal client, your audience, whatever you wanna call it. Like, the person I can help 13:21 who's ready for me to help them, then I just try to make sure I either talk to them directly or talk to someone who knows them, or be in the spaces those people are. 13:29 And like I said, for me, it's just me interacting with people, talking to them, coffee chats, communities. And then I... 13:39 And then trying to be, if not directly connected with them, then connected with someone who's connected to them. And that can be, also be in, like, communities, through coffee chats. Sometimes through, like, 13:52 content, like social media or podcasts. I would s- a- according to my data, like, 14:00 I haven't really gotten a lot of people who I've worked with through that avenue, so it's, for me, that would be, like, a longer-term ga- like, game, like a long play to see, like, does, is this worth it or not? 14:16 So I don't focus a lot of energy on that, on, on like content creation, social media, podcast guesting right now, although I have done some. Like, and so like I said, I focus on where people do come 14:31 to find out about me and work, and then want to work with me. I also keep data, like, I track that. So I have a database where I track, like, how many people have I t- uh, talked to, coffee chats, 14:45 how many intro calls have I done, like sales calls. And for the coffee chats, it, like, I, my tracking isn't, like, super, super perfect, 'cause sometimes I'll me- with... 14:57 Especially if I've already talked with someone, then I might not always keep track of it, although I'm trying to be better about it. 15:03 Because when I get busy, sometimes it's easy to forget and then not realize I haven't really connected with anyone for a month or two. 15:11 For sales calls, I do track, 'cause there's less of those, so they're just easier to keep track of and look at on my calendar. So that's how I like fill my pipeline, that term. Is... 15:27 And again, it's, it's all about data, like having the data, the numbers that show me where are people coming from, who end up working with me. Am I doing more of those things? How many of those things am I doing? 15:42 What's enough of those to be doing? How many should I be doing? So a, a lot of this is I've just been figuring out, and I'm still figuring out, so that's why I wanna say it's very individual. 15:53 For some people, for them it's posting every day on LinkedIn. For them would bring a client, and then that's what you would probably be measuring and doing. Did I post every day on LinkedIn this week? 16:08 And then what happened when I posted every day on LinkedIn for e- every month? Did I get new people? How many people? If I post more, did I get more people or less people? So it's just a lot of the... 16:22 I, a lot of my approach is I do a thing and then see how people react to it, or it's like throwing stuff out there in the world and seeing the feedback, and then adjusting based on that. 16:32 And then do I wanna keep doing that or do I not wanna keep doing that? And I'll also just considering, like, how do I feel doing this, too? 16:39 If I feel terrible I, I maybe don't wanna keep doing that and I need to find a better a better way to find clients or work that doesn't make me feel crappy. 16:52 So that's that other side of, like, how do I even make sure I have new people so I am not panicking? [laughs] Yeah. Okay, so yeah. I think that's good. Again, it's, this is unpolished thoughts, 17:08 and you'll notice I talked about more than just money, because money is never just money. It's, it's just a part of a wh- like, a whole... For business, like, your whole business system, your finances, your money system. 17:20 That's why I use the term systems, 'cause everything is connected to... Each piece of the business, and money specifically, is connected to something else, so if one thing changes, all, the whole system is affected. 17:36 So yeah, hopefully that is helpful. Hopefully you enjoy listening to this. If you have any questions or thoughts or something you wanted me to clarify or just expand on more, let me know and I will... 17:54 I believe I can put this in the sh- in the show notes, like, a way to give that feedback, whether it's through e- through email or I might set up a form, too. 18:03 That might be, like, the simplest solution for this to keep it organized. But I'll put that in there, and then you can use that. Yeah. Thank you. Until next time.
