“Yes! Another great one. Thanks.
…4X now we’ve had a baseball bat to our knees and we are stronger than ever now. Each time it happens it takes us a little time to take a deep breath, realize what happened then get hyper focused on being better because of it.”
That’s the reply I received from one CEO to Monday’s email (if you missed it you can read it here). To protect his confidentiality I’ve left his name out and the names of the organizations that took the bat to his knees.
We’ve all been there. The first step is admitting it. Then learning from it and making sure history doesn’t repeat itself.
Early in my career I made the mistake of having almost all of my revenue tied up in work with one client. When the recession of 2008 hit the healthcare industry and decimated their professional development budget I got the proverbial baseball bat to the knees myself.
I learned a TOUGH lesson…
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify your portfolio, hedge your bets so to speak.
It hit me in the wallet HARD. But that painful lesson also made me better because of it.
From 2008 forward I’ve never been financially dependent on any one client. If a client leaves me, closes their doors or if I decide to fire them (which I do w/ the bottom 20% of my business each year and recommend you do the same) my income isn’t adversely impacted.
As a matter of fact, each time that happens…
That old business is always, without exception, replaced with better, higher quality, more committed clients, and my business grows as a result.
Fire your worst clients? Yeah I do that and it’s something I teach inside my Yesterday’s Underdog membership community. Along with HOW you replace them with better, higher quality clients.
Are you coachable? Intellectually curious? Want more out of your business & team?
If you answered yes to those three, you’re in the right place: