205: Why Putting Client Work First Is Costing You Big Opportunities

Welcome to the She Thinks Big! Podcast. Get ready to level up your thinking and expand your horizons. I’m your host, Andrea Liebross, your guide on this journey of big ideas and bold moves. I am the best-selling author of She Thinks Big: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide to Moving Past the Messy Middle and Into the Extraordinary.

I support women like you with the insights and mindset you need to think bigger and the strategies and systems you need to turn that thinking into action and make it all a reality. Are you ready to stop thinking small and start thinking big? Let’s dive in.

Hello, my friends, and welcome back to the She Thinks Big! Podcast. I am so happy to be here with you today. We're getting into something that could seriously shift how you think about running your business. We're going to talk about why putting clients first all the time might actually be costing you more money in the long run.

The reason I'm doing this is because I hear a lot of you say to me when I say, "Well, have you worked on X, Y, and Z on the back end of your business or have you gone after that bigger opportunity?" The reason that those are nos is because they say they're working on things that they need to deliver immediately to current clients.

I know this sounds a little counterintuitive. Like you might be thinking, “Hey, Andrea, if I put clients first, I'll keep them happy and happy clients mean more money.” Yes, I can agree with you that keeping clients happy is important. But here is what I want you to consider. Constantly prioritizing immediate client needs could really actually be keeping you from even bigger financial opportunities down the road or perfecting your backend processes, which in the long term could create more money and create more efficiency.

I want to share with you first something I call the more clients equals more money trap. This is a trap that we often fall into. We think that by focusing 100% on our clients and delivering exactly what they need, we'll make more money. Hey, we all need more money. But here's the real issue, when you're laser-focused on serving your clients at all costs, you might be so deep in the weeds that you miss out on the bigger opportunities that could generate even more income.

The truth is the strategy of putting clients first, especially when paired with perfectionism, might bring in cash today, but it can also keep you stuck. Sometimes even when we think about pricing and we're like, "Oh, well, if I lower my prices, I'll have more clients, which will need more income," maybe, but what if you had higher prices and less clients? You might have the same income and a lot less work. So there's the trap of more clients, more money.

This is an episode you probably want to take notes on, by the way. Just saying because this is really juicy stuff, really juicy stuff. It really comes also from what big thinkers do that small thinkers don't.

Here's the second thing I want you to think about. Short-term revenue versus long-term wealth. Here's another thing I see. This came up on a call just the other day. This client was in the hustle of meeting client deadlines. It's almost like their inefficiencies led to her emergencies, her deadline emergencies. She's in that hustle.

She's customizing the work for every client because she wants to make sure that she's giving the clients exactly what they want. She was offering kind of like non-stop client support because she wanted to keep them happy. This is like a long-term client, but PS, they keep having the same pattern of having these emergencies.

Yes, she might see those invoices getting paid, but what she's really doing is sacrificing her long-term wealth for that short-term revenue. She's choosing immediate action and thus immediate income over what I might call strategic growth. I asked her, “What if this client isn't really your client? Yes, they're a repeat client, but you don't necessarily enjoy working with them. They seem to cause you a lot of headaches and they're not even paying you as much as some other clients.”

That kind of put off some light bulbs in her head. You may be thinking, “But if I focus on this client, I make money and I need money right now,” but what if opportunities that are out there really require time and space to cultivate? What about those new services, systems, or partnerships that could bring even more income? If you're doing this immediate stuff, you don't have the bandwidth to explore them because you're too busy with the day-to-day client work. Think about that. Short-term revenue versus long-term wealth, do you have the bandwidth to create long-term wealth?

All right, here's the next thing. Let's be honest. When you're spending all your time in client work, you might not even see the bigger opportunities around you. So it's one thing if you see them but you're not addressing them. You might not even see them. You're so focused on what's in front of you that you miss what's ahead. What if there's a chance to scale, a chance to develop something new to expand your business in ways that would multiply your income, but you never take it, you never take those opportunities because you're so bogged down in the now?

I have seen this happen. I have heard people say, “I will invest in my business after this client is done.” But when does that ever really happen? Another client comes along and you get stuck in the same cycle and meanwhile, you're missing out on something much bigger that could really change the trajectory of your business and your bank account.

I see this happen sometimes when I have new clients and they say to me, "I have been thinking about working with you for two years." Two years! I've just been so caught up in what's right in front of me that I keep putting it off. I keep thinking about it. I know that there are probably opportunities out there that I'm not even aware of because I haven't even stopped long enough to look. So coaching is kind of giving them that strategic pause that they're looking for.

That's the third thing, the bigger money you're missing. You're missing bigger money. Here's the next piece: Perfectionism keeps you from scaling. This is where perfectionism comes into play. You're so concerned with getting everything just right for each client that you're constantly in revision mode, tweaking and refining.

You think that this will lead to more money because clients are satisfied. But what it's really doing is eating away at your time; time you could be using to work on your business, on your business, not just in your business. Perfectionism paired with that client first thinking is a deadly trap. It keeps you from taking the risks that might lead to major growth.

You're missing out on opportunities to scale because you're too focused on making sure everything is perfect for every client every time. Growth is messy. It's not perfect, but it really is necessary if you want to make the big money. This person I'm thinking about that's been holding out for two years, she's been working on a lot of things that she doesn't really want to work on. The things that she wants to work on would take some time to develop, but they would allow her to scale. So she is missing out on much bigger money because she's stuck in the here and now.

Here's the next thing: There's an opportunity cost of playing small. I call opportunity cost when you put all of your energy into client work at the expense of your own growth, you're not just losing time, you're losing money. So there is an opportunity cost of playing small with the convenient clients, or the ones that are easy-ish to get, but maybe not easy to serve.

You could be investing that time into initiatives that really expand your business. You could create passive income streams, or what I like to call hidden profits. Or if you had this time, it might allow you to serve more clients in a bigger way. That's where the real financial gains are.

Think about it this way. Sure, you're making money now by focusing on each individual client. But what could happen if you shifted your focus just a little bit? What if you invested time in creating systems that will allow you to serve more clients? Have you ever thought about this? I need better systems, and if I had better systems, I could serve more clients or things would go smoother.

Or better yet, if you shifted your focus, you might be able to attract higher-paying clients who value the bigger vision you're working toward. You could end up making a lot more money without working more hours.

Here's what's next: Self-investment equals bigger financial returns. So let's get one thing straight. Investing in yourself and your business growth is not only going to serve your clients better in the long run, it's also going to lead to bigger financial returns.

When you step back from day-to-day client work to focus on strategic growth, to create a vision into action plan, you create the space to scale. You develop new offerings, you improve efficiency, and most importantly, you free yourself from the grind of trading time for money.

What if instead of thinking “I need to serve this client perfectly so I can get paid,” you shifted to “How can I grow this business so I can serve more clients and make more money in less time?” It is a game changer. So this person I was talking to who had the emergency client that this always happens, the last minute they come to her with changes, she wants to serve them. She wants them to like her. She wants to keep getting that repeat business.

But I'm super curious if she shifted from that thinking into “How can I grow this business so I can serve more clients and make more money in less time?” I'm super curious if she would actually have clients that she loved more and her bank account would have more money in it.

This is all very intriguing, isn't it? Yesterday I did a Vision Into Action Intensive and one of my clients recognized that there was a true hidden profit in her business, like literally she could offer classes, Pilates classes in her medical space that her clients would probably love. It would be no skin off her back. She already has someone who could do it. She has the space, but she hadn't paused long enough to think about that.

I had another client yesterday who actually happens to be a coach too. We were creating her Vision Into Action Organizer and she had the revelation that, wow, even coaches need coaches. She hadn't thought about this stuff. She hadn't paused long enough.

So I want to give you four ways on how to break free from this client-first mindset, how do you make the shift? How do you stop thinking small and start thinking big? Here's what I recommend, number one, I want you to reframe how you think about money. Instead of thinking, “I need money now,” start asking, “How can I create sustainable, scalable income?”

All of you who have debt out there. I want you to neutralize the debt as an expense. Just an expense, it's just like any other expense. It's like your lease, it's like your software. Paying down the debt is just an expense. Instead of thinking, “I need money now, I need to get rid of the debt before I can do anything different.” A lot of you have the mindset of, “I need to get rid of the debt before I can do anything different.”

In order to do this, it might mean turning down some client work or simplifying your services to create space for bigger opportunities. That's what it might mean. But how can I create sustainable scalable income versus I need money now? We've got to neutralize this, “I need money now” and think more about sustainable scalable income.

Second thing. This is how you can break free from this client-first mindset. You need to make time for business development. I can't say this enough, you guys. You need to set aside time each week to focus on growth initiatives. Treat it like you would a client meeting. It's a non-negotiable. Business development is a non-negotiable. This is where the future income lies.

If you aren't spending any time on business development, we have a problem. There's nothing in the pipeline or nothing that you really want in the pipeline. You've got to make some time, some dedicated time for business development. That's the second thing.

Third, you've got to get comfortable with the imperfect. So stop letting perfectionism drive your decisions. Done is better than perfect. B minus work that's turned in is better than A + work that never gets turned in. Get the work out there, let your team or the systems handle the rest, and move on to that next big thing. Get comfortable with the imperfect. It's a game-changer.

All right, and here's the last thing—this is often hard to do on your own. I have a hard time doing this on my own. That's why I have a coach—think bigger about the clients you want. As you grow, you'll attract higher-value clients, clients who aren't focused on nitpicking details, but who appreciate forward-thinking partners. That's where the real money is.

You want clients that are thinking about forward-thinking partners. Yes, but you've got to give yourself space to think about that, to think about how to attract those higher-value clients. That too is a game changer.

To wrap those four ways to break free from this client-first mindset, reframe how you think about money, make time for business development, get comfortable with the imperfect, and think bigger about the clients you want. Because you are missing the bigger money.

If you are focused on short-term revenue, you're sacrificing the long-term wealth. If you're in the trap of more clients equal to more money, it's a trap. If you are trying to live in the perfect world, you're keeping yourself from scaling. There is an opportunity cost to playing small.

Here's my challenge for you this week. Take a hard look at where you're spending your time. Are you focused on immediate client work, thinking it's the only way to make money? Or are you creating space to explore bigger opportunities that could make you even more? I want you to identify one area where you can step back from the day-to-day and invest in your business growth.

One thing, and so maybe it's not making everything look super pretty on Canva, and instead spending your time investing in your business growth. Maybe it's not taking on three new little clients and maybe it's waiting for the big one. This is going to transform both your income and your impact, I promise you.

All right, my friends, thank you for joining me today on She Thinks Big! Podcast. I want you to keep thinking bigger, let go of that perfectionism, and create space for bigger financial opportunities. That is where the money is. In this time of the end of year, if you're listening to this in real-time, where do you want to be in January? Let's create that together. I would love to be your partner and help you create that strategic pause and the space that you need to think about these things. So head over to andreaslinks.com and schedule a call. I will see you soon.

Thanks for tuning into the She Thinks Big! Podcast. If you're ready to learn the secret to unleashing your full potential, don't forget to grab a copy of my book, She Thinks Big: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide to Moving Past the Messy Middle and Into the Extraordinary. It's available on Amazon and at your favorite bookstore.

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