5 Ways to Maintain Your Business Passion
14 November, 2008 - General Business - 18 Comments
With 27 comments, a feature article on Brazen Careerist, a mention on John Chow Dot Com, and more track backs than I care to think about, it’s safe to say my 5 Ways to Lose Passion for Your Business article was a popular read for many.
You Can Avoid Losing Your Passion
Just a few minutes ago, I was chatting on Twitter with my good friend and Belfast Web developer, Seamus Clarke. We were chatting about my venture back in to Web development with my new company, solution.14.
How do you intend avoiding those dreaded 5 reasons for losing your passion?
The Irish always have a knack of asking such crazy questions! I mean, I’m just going to avoid doing those five things I listed in the previous post! Right? Wrong! Because that’s what I tried to do last time. I never intended to have a lack of self discipline or a lack of trust in others and I never tried to forget about my customers. It just happened.
It’s Time to be Proactive
With solution.14, I intend to be proactive in my approach. Here are the five ways I intend to use to avoid losing my passion.
1. Outsource & Trust
I intend to outsource all my design and coding work. Those are the two most time consuming parts of any Web development project. For the most part, I’ll act as nothing more than a project manager, outsourcing to Web designers and developers just as capable as me while I sit back and focus on keeping the customer happy and entertained and indeed focus on bringing in more customers. As the owner of the business, every moment I spend designing, coding, writing copy, or maintaining Web sites is time that could and should be spent on communicating with past, present and future customers.
“Trust in others is the difference between owning your business and your business owning you“
Those are the words of my good friend and former business partner, Paul Hirsch. He hit the nail on the head in that one sentence alone.
2. Finish Pre Deadline
My second point of my previous post discussed how I over-promised and under-delivered. I fell in to the trap of promising the world when meeting a customer, and then only being able to give her a country.
Switching that around and under-promising to allow you to over-deliver is not easy. It’s going to take time and practice, but in the seven short days I’ve been operating I’ve found there is one thing we can easily do to impress a client. Over-estimate how long the project will take, then finish the work in less days than you estimated.
Just last week I had a customer who offered a four day deadline. I rejected the deadline and told him I’d have it finished the next day. In the end, I had it finished the same day he contracted me for the work. His response? “WOW. That was quick!” His words, not mine.
That same client emailed me 24 hours later to say how impressed he was. He happened to say I was the best freelancer he has ever worked with. (You should have seen my head grow!). Three days later he emailed again. This time he was wracking his brain to find a way he could work with me again. When somebody is trying to create extra work just to work with you some more, you know you far, far exceeded their expectations.
Finishing work pre deadline isn’t the hardest of tasks when you’re doing the work yourself. But it’s even easier when you outsource. Contractors have this uncanny ability to come in on deadline. Every. Single. Time. I put this down to the small chunks of work. If I outsource the design to one person and the coding to another, both contractors only have half as much work as they’re used to having. Smaller projects are easier to estimate and manage. Next time you outsource in small chunks, add 24-48 hours on to each estimate from the contractor before passing the timeline on to the customer. Of course, don’t tell your contractor this. You don’t want him or her to know they have an extra 24 hours to complete the work, because then you’re unable to over-deliver to the client.
3. Market. Measure. Entertain.
My third point on my previous post is the most important. You work in, not on your business. You become an employee of your own business with no manager looking on.
Outsourcing kills two birds with one stone. When you outsource, you free up time to work on your business. You free up time to write those thank you letters to customers, to take the client out for dinner, to market your business, to make phone calls and conduct surveys.
4. Regular Customer Contact
Remember this: When you receive a signed contract for some work, you don’t just receive a new project. You receive a new customer.
That customer will still be there long after you have finished the project and the contract has become obsolete.
A customer really is for life.
Over the past seven days I’ve hung on to this mantra and applied it across the board, from customers to prospects to suppliers to contractors.
After I completed the work I mentioned above, I sent a thank you letter via snail-mail, along with a receipt for payment and a copy of the project report. This project report is a print out of a database report that contains the dates all project milestones were achieved, such as when the contract was received, when the first invoice was sent, when payment was received and when the work was completed. It also includes my notes from the initial meeting with the client which, along with the quality Web site I just gave them, reiterates how well I understood and met their needs.
I Amazed the Reception Girls
I had a meeting on Monday morning with a new startup Web development firm. We met just to bounce ideas and talk a little about my past marketing efforts.
After the meeting, I asked the receptionists at the office block to give me a tour and provide some quotes for potential office space. The tour was very interesting and I went away with some useful quotes that the girls in reception had quickly produced for me on the spur of the moment.
Once home, the first thing I did was write, print and mail two letters. One to the new development firm and one to the girls in reception.
Today, I heard back from the guys at the office. They spoke with the girls in reception and they mentioned how grateful they were for my letter. You see, for a new media firm, there’s no better way to stand out than to give somebody a personal note on real, printed paper. Not email. But real, quality paper.
5. Make the Business Fun
But all this is useless unless the business is fun. And it’s not down to your customers, your colleagues, your contractors or your suppliers to make your business fun and exciting. It’s down to you. It’s down to you to ensure you do the things you want and enjoy doing, and outsource the rest. It’s down to you to exceed your customers expectations, because as well as making them feel good, it also makes you feel great. There hasn’t been a time yet when I’ve walked to the postbox to post a thank you letter and I haven’t had a smile on face. It’s exciting and satisfying to know I’m doing something that other Web development firms don’t do. It’s satisfying to know that everybody my business comes in to contact with knows I care about them and their business.
1. Outsource anything that isn’t getting you new clients and you don’t enjoy
2. Exceed your customers expectations by over-estimating the timeframe
3. Use time saved by outsourcing to do things that bring in new business and ensure that past and present customers are happy
4. Keep in touch with customers. Use snail mail. It helps you stand out, pleases the client and gives you that warm fuzzy feeling inside
5. Make your business fun. For both you and your customers. Do what you enjoy. Outsource the rest.
Most important of all…
Never (ever!) meet a customers expectations. It just isn’t good enough. Always exceed their expectations
How do you exceed your customers expectations? Do you often surprise them? How do you maintain your passion and keep it exciting?
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Posted on 14 November, 2008 by Jamie Harrop
Filed Under General Business |
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Nice post Jamie, you have some very good points and ideas.
My most recent project I decided to outsource everything, (although I ended up doing the business card myself) the logo and website are being done by two separate freelancers. Boy did it ever free up lots of time to do other things which is what I wanted with just over a month till my son is born.
Like I mentioned before I’ve just started sending out thank you letters with a USB drive that contains the clients website files on it, so far it’s been met with a good response. Hopefully, it will bring in some repeat busy or referral business.
Nicks last blog post..7 reasons not to mess with children
Hey Nick,
Do you mind me asking where you found the freelancers to outsource to? Was it forums, or people you already knew?
I’m glad it’s been a positive experience for you so far.
Hope Denise is doing well.
I found them on forums, I’m hoping they will turn into a long term relationship. The logo guy was pretty good and quick so I will probably try him again. The guy doing the website has been good so far, it’s still ongoing so I’ll wait until the end to decide if I will use him again.
Denise is doing well she’s looking forward to the 8 months off work. Her belly is getting huge, but don’t tell her that. lol
Nicks last blog post..7 reasons not to mess with children
Hi Jamie,
Good ideas in both posts.
Recently have started sending handwritten notes for good service with specific details of what was done, why it was excellent, etc. It’s amazing how much this can brighten someone’s day.
Wish you well,
Alec
Alec Satins last blog post..Redoubled Customer Focus and Project Management
Hey Alec,
Thanks for the comment.
It’s a nice feeling when you brighten a persons day, isn’t it?
For what it’s worth, I don’t think I could ever hand write my notes. My handwriting is far too sloppy (too many years spent typing).
But a personal, typed letter seems to work quite well and I’ll occasionally add a handwritten “PS” at the bottom.
I’m the same way, no one could ever read my chicken scratches. I was born to type or to be a doctor. I sign my letters but that’s about it.
Nicks last blog post..7 reasons not to mess with children
Yes - especially since so many people get limited feedback from others. (We’re usually either too busy or don’t think about it.)
BTW, about handwriting, it’s completely possible to go from illegible handwriting to very nice looking script in a relatively short period of time. People now compliment me on my handwriting - before it was chicken-scratch.
Here’s a place to start: Write Now by Getty and Dubay.
For me it was DEFINITELY worth the effort.
Alec
Alec Satins last blog post..How to Say Goodbye When a Workmate Leaves
Hey Alec,
That looks like an excellent book. I’ll make sure I purchase it this week.
Thanks for the link!
Jamie
Hello Jamie:
As a 25 yr plus veteran as an entrepreneur I can confirm that you have learned some valuable lessons well.
When you want it and you want it now it is difficult to rein in your overactive and often unrealistic expectations of yourself!
You have to learn to say NO, yes let someone else do part of it, always LISTEN to your customer/client, and always have fun. Be patient!
Dee Langdon - BloggerNewbies last blog post..Check This Out!
Great article Jamie. Problem with over delivering is that people expect it after a while. So you end up building a relationship where you have to go faster and faster each iteration.
Jack Hughess last blog post..What to do if you’re newly qualified and can’t get your first job
Enjoyed this Jamie - a lot of good points. I’ll make sure to do some Christmas cards to my clients, old and new!
thanks,
Ross
[...] Harrop has not one but five ways to maintain the passion for your business. It’s interesting to note that there’s also five way to lose passion [...]
Sending a hand written note does more good than a simple thanks through email. Nowadays, hand written notes have more value since email is just mainstream. Great stuff Jamie!
[...] Harrop has not one but five ways to maintain the passion for your business. It’s interesting to note that there’s also five way to lose passion [...]
[...] Harrop has not one but five ways to maintain the passion for your business. It’s interesting to note that there’s also five way to lose passion [...]
[...] Harrop has not one but five ways to maintain the passion for your business. It’s interesting to note that there’s also five way to lose passion [...]
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