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Key Takeaways Select clients who are a good fit for your business instead of onboarding everyone who contacts you.
By focusing on the right partnerships instead of saying yes to every opportunity, companies can prevent burnout, improve team morale and achieve more sustainable growth.
It may be cliché, but that doesn’t make it any less true: Sometimes less is more. It’s exciting when your company starts to see a steady influx of interest, and it’s also tempting to say yes to every opportunity that comes along. After all, who knows how long the boom will last?
I’d like to propose a different strategy, one that may seem counterintuitive, but in the long run, will pay higher dividends. Instead of onboarding every new client who contacts you, maybe it’s better to be selective.
I have nothing against volume-based growth. However, for service businesses, it may not work out as intended, causing problems down the line, such as burnout, dissatisfied team members, high attrition rates and lost revenue. That’s why I advocate prioritizing quality over quantity when considering your business’s long-term growth strategy.
Related: The Most Successful Entrepreneurs Know How to Say ‘No.’ Here’s the One Exercise You Need to Learn This Skill.
The meaning of growth
When building your business, think of growth as meaning better as well as more. For some small businesses, aiming for higher quality rather than higher volume can provide greater control and stability.
As business owners, we’ve all dealt with a client who wasn’t the right fit for our company. It’s just part of doing business. We learn that some client relationships don’t work out the way we hope they will, and the client ends up leaving. If this is a frequent issue for your company, I recommend considering a more selective approach.
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