Set boundaries for business growth

Why bother setting boundaries in business?

What if I told you that setting boundaries helped me grow my business? It’s true, and systems helped me do it… As if you needed another reason to invest in systems.

When most of us chose to be entrepreneurs, we thought of the freedom that running your own business allows. Sure, there’s stress that comes with it, but I bet you thought that it would be amazing for the most part. The good news is that self-employment is amazing. However, it’s not always easy. Sometimes you have to do hard things.

• Set parameters for clients.
• Enforce project scopes.
• Have tough conversations.
• Work when you want to relax.
• Spend too much time on busywork.

I’m very much anti-hustle and anti-busywork (if you couldn’t tell). Which is where systems come in. Systems help us set boundaries with clients and ourselves, so we can dedicate more time to doing things we love, like working with those clients and relaxing after work hours.

Where can you set boundaries?

I’m always up for talking about systems and boundaries, and how the two come together to create ease in your business. Here’s a few ideas of systems you can set up in your day-to-day, so you can take a step back.

Inbox boundaries and leads

It’s so important to make new enquiries feel supported as soon as they reach out. It’s also important that you aren’t glued to your inbox as a business owner. You need to focus on the task at hand without constantly checking your emails. Also, you need to just relax instead of replying to leads after hours! One system that helps here is setting up an automated lead workflow that does the following:

• Automatically respond to new enquiries.
• Create a services guide to send as part of this workflow to reinforce your process, share more details about popular packages, and screen those who aren’t a good fit. Double boundaries here by eliminating time-wasting discovery calls that end abruptly and go nowhere.
• Send your scheduler link, so leads can book discovery calls on their own if they like what they see from your services guide.

You stay focused on whatever you’re doing, they get the information they need.

 

Scheduling boundaries and meetings

Do you know those long email threads that are just a back-and-forth of “Does this time work for you?” Ya… we can skip those now with automated schedulers.

• Send scheduler links to clients and leads so you don’t need to worry about coordinating time zones, calendars, and waiting for replies. They book in when they’re ready at a time that works for them.
• Meetings are notoriously disruptive to focused work. Use a scheduler to batch meetings on specific days according to your ideal week. This will give you more time for focused work outside of the heavy meeting days.
• Skip the awkward conversation of “That time doesn’t really work for me.” The scheduler link makes it clear when you’re available (and when you aren’t).

 

Set boundaries with contracts

When you automate with Dubsado specifically, proposals, contracts, and invoices can be sent all in one go to ensure that new clients check each box in a timely manner. No more needing to send each separately to have them miss something. Everyone stays on track! Plus Dubsado stores records of these on both your side and the client portal so everyone can refer back to the project expectations.

Set boundaries with new clients

One of the most important steps in onboarding a new client is setting expectations for the project. As a business owner, it’s up to you to lay the ground rules. With systems in place, you can enforce boundaries like the following.

• Send a welcome guide automatically after a project is booked and the deposit paid.
• Include boundaries for communication. Where, when, and how can clients expect to hear from you about their project?
• Set boundaries for the project timeline. Stop letting projects get derailed. Having a clear plan from the beginning ensures that everyone is on the same page, so you can finish your work by the deadlines.
• If you prefer to talk to clients face to face instead of wasting hours in your inbox, note this at the beginning! Make it clear that clients can book themselves in for meetings instead of sending endless distracting emails.
• Talk about offboarding in the beginning. You need to be clear when your support stops and how clients can resume working with you after the current project ends. This eliminates any lingerers who infringe on the time of future projects.
• Think of any other sticky spots you’ve experienced before. Can you use these as lessons to create simple boundaries?

 

Set boundaries with your rates

We’ve all received a “pick your brain” request at least once. With systems in place, you can send a canned email response to these that includes a link to book and pay for a consultation. Your time is money!

Get started with boundaries and automation

If you read this far and are hooked by the idea of setting clear boundaries, saving time, and becoming overall more efficient in your business, I think you’ll love my free course: 7 Steps to Automation. Enroll to get started ASAP!