Let’s talk about increasing your cash flow.
I was talking to someone who’s had a great couple of years, done well, and had a couple of big clients. But now her cash flow is crashing, because those jobs are finishing out. She popped her head up to see what was in the pipeline, and lo and behold, there’s nothing there. We’ve all been there; we’ve all done this.
And it’s not that she had all her eggs in one basket. She’s got other clients, and lots of little stuff going on. But it made the difference between doing $600,000 a year, and about $300,000 a year. And that’s not a comfortable drop; that’s actually kind of painful. Especially when you have people who are depending on you, that you want to keep, and you want to keep growing your business. So, in talking to her, I asked her what she was doing, and it turned out she was trying to do everything.
When Doing Too Much Jeopardizes Your Business
She was doing ads, and doing this and that, and just throwing stuff around. I like to call that being busy instead of doing business. It’s not thoughtful. It’s not planned, and it’s not focused. So, what I helped her with, was to show her how to stop for a moment and pause. Take a breath and look at where those good clients came from. Look at what avenue they came from. For example, if they came out of social media, then that’s where the focus should be.
Get back in the same space that brought those good clients to you. Be omnipresent and be everywhere. Just get on it and keep it going and push it until everything you want shows up. Then, figure out a way to continue it and make it your focus. If your clients came from networking, that’s what you need to do. Get out and talk to people. Go to all those group meetings and events. Get out and connect to people and use your elevator speech. Tell them what you do. Tell them how you help people, and the clients will start coming to you because you’re good at it. That’s what you do.
Some people like to tell me that they don’t market their business. It’s all word-of-mouth, and quite frankly, that is a form of marketing. It’s based on referral partners who refer business to you. So, if that’s what you’re good at, then you need to deepen those relationships. You need to be out having coffee and lunches and connecting with those people. Work on building more relationships so that those referrals come back through again.
How to Switch Your Focus Back to Your Business
Next, you need to figure out from your calendar what activities you can let go of. What are the non-essential activities? Non-essential activities are items like charity boards and perhaps teaching or volunteering or similar events in your life. It’s vital right now to let the people in charge of those activities know that you need a three to six-month pause and assure them you’ll be back.
But right now, you need to take a break. That way, you can take time and energy to focus on pulling these clients back in. Because what we’re looking for is 110 percent to get back in it and focus. It’ll come back up again, that is how it works. So, what I’m asking you to do is to free up that time. Make a clear list of the things you’re going to do, get out there, and get it going.
If this kind of information is valuable and useful to you, you need to know that this is the sort of thing we do at Interior Design Business Academy’s Growth and Structure Programs.
Get Help & Support for Your Design Business
Our Growth and Structure programs both have online design business curriculums. They are tried and true recipes for signing up clients, getting your business back on track, and marketing programs to help you grow your business. Both are online so that you can absorb them at your own pace. We also have bi-weekly coaching so that you can get answers when you need them. We have a strong community that’s very supportive of each other and has amazing things that come out of it.
You’ll get answers when you need them, and I’m there for you when you need help. I’ll make sure that you get what you need so that you can pull that job off and get that piece to work. If that’s interesting to you, then I invite you to have a get-acquainted call with us. This is not a pushy sales call; there’s no arm turning. I don’t play that game. Everyone who’s in my programs is here because of the great relationship we have with each other. That’s the way I want it, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.
If you’d like to explore a little bit about what that would be about, and what that might look like for you this next year? Click on the link below to get started. You’ll need to do a little assessment first, so I know more about you. Then, you’ll see a calendar where you can schedule time to chat with us.
Until next time, design something beautiful, get paid what you’re worth.