Originally featured in Womensinspire Blog written by me.
A lot of what we discuss in our business lives is our successes. It is of course much more fun to discuss these than our failures right? We all fail however, some fail more spectacularly than others of course.
As an example look at Michael O'Leary from Ryanair. The man is having a mare of a month after pulling a couple of thousand flights in six weeks and all the horrendous PR he is now dealing with. He will probably bounce back however, he's the "Rubberband King". Guess what, so can we because when one door closes another opens.
A lot of what we deal with is down to perception. What seems like a big deal to me may seem small potatoes to you as an example. That is why events like the Women's Inspire meet-ups and Conference are so important. Some times all you need is a little perspective to give you some balance.
Clients come and go in everyone's business - when one door closes another opens even though when a door closes sometimes it can seem a bit of a blow, personally, emotionally and financially. We all end up worried about other commitments but the important thing here is to ensure that we learn from the time we have with our clients and improve on it.
I personally have taken some great takeaways from my time with clients however. Namely, I must keep on offering more throughout, not just to woo them at the beginning. To chase for a response and not just assume a lack of response is a "no". Over the years I have also learnt to be more consistent in my offering as well - by "over offering" you impress but if its not something you can maintain then its also not worth doing. This is a guaranteed way to disappoint your client.
In your own sector you may have very short term clients or long term clients, either way as long as you make sure you look after your current clients first and your prospects second, you're always going to have ambassadors for your business. The great thing about being open to new projects and having an understanding of your own weaknesses and strengths, is that you can create opportunities to match your strengths going forward.I have recently engaged a further 2 clients and have taken what I have learnt from other clients and I hope to build upon it. It is exceptionally difficult to not take things personally, especially when you run your own business. It is important that you try not to however, you don't always get the full benefit of understanding what your clients motivations are for leaving you. This is precisely why having a talk with fellow business owners who have the same time constraints and business concerns as you is so important - this is what Women's Inspire is built on.
So join us this month for the "Women's Inspire Conference - Self Care in Business" and take a deep breath and treat each new day as a new start remembering that when one door closes another opens.
Working with clients Nationwide from base in Mullingar.
