4 #BOSSCARE TIPS YOU NEED TO IMPLEMENT ASAP
Self care: the things that we do for ourselves to take care of our mental, physical, and emotional health in our personal lives. Boss Care is self care, but for your work life! See what I did there.
Babes, there are probably an unlimited number of things you could be implementing right now in your day to day work life to allow you to maintain more of your sanity and give your current and potential clients the experience they expect and deserve without the extra bullshit. When you’re not running around like a crazy person, you can avoid deflation and burn out and pour more of your energy into all the places of your business that need it most. Having a Boss Care System in place allows you to run your business without letting it run you. So, if you’re feeling a little unstructured or like there may be a better way to run the business that you are the boss of, I have a few Boss Care essentials of my own to share with you to help you get started:
Tip 1 // Work when you want, not when you think you should
My clients do not run me. When my clients pay me for a service, they are paying me for my professional opinion, they are paying me for my creative direction, and they are paying me to be at the top of my game when it’s time to perform that service. And I can’t be at the top of my game when I’m being run into the ground trying to accommodate everyone at the time that works best for them. Theres a million of them, but there’s only one me. So i control my schedule in a way that works best for me, not for the people that want to work with me. This may sound crazy to hear, and if it does sound crazy to you, you are probably the burnt out person that I’m talking to. Hello, my name is Kelley and I run a 6 figure business, how the hell are ya?!
-The times that you choose to take a video call should work best for you.
-The times that you pick to see clients face to face should work best for you.
-The times that you physically perform your service should work best for you.
If people want to work with you, they will make whatever time you told them was available work for them. Don’t feel obligated to do anything outside the parameters you set unless its out of pure empathy for that specific client and situation.
As entrepreneurs, most of us signed up for this crazy self-employed life because we wanted more freedom, right? Well you cant have freedom if you leave every waking hour open and available for anyone to just book you + your service at anytime because you’re too scared you might miss out on money if you don’t. You only miss out on money if you believe you will, not because you decided that hanging out with your family on Sundays was, you know, important too. Save yourself a boat load of headaches: pick a day, or 5 hell I don’t care, and reserve them for other things besides face-to-face client interaction. Thank me later.
Tip 2 // Stop trying to make Working Lunches happen
I used to be the queen of multitasking and i thought i was really getting stuff done by doing 8 things at a time, but really, what are you actually accomplishing if you're trying to do 8 things at a time besides a reason to be prescribed ADD medicine? That email that you're trying to bang out in between lukewarm spoonfuls of soup because you let it get cold, it most definitely could have waited.
I know for some of you it’s probably foreign to even eat lunch let alone eat at the appropriate time, but if and when you do decide to come up for air and give your body the energy boost it needs, do yourself a favor: close the laptop, sit back and relax, and just….eat.
Tip 3 // Auto Schedule Regular Client Emails
If you’ve been typing out the same emails over and over for every new client that comes your way, it’s time to reclaim your time. If you don’t have a handy dandy list of email templates you need to stop right now, and go create one. And your client on-boarding process should 100% include auto-schedule any email that you ALREADY know you are going to send, so that you can set it and forget it. My favorite email scheduling tool is Boomerang. I have so many clients with a service timeline of one year, sometimes over one year! So rather than make a million notes on when to contact who about what in however many months, the first thing I do once they have signed on the dotted line is schedule all the emails I know I am going to send them to go out at a future date.
Tip 4 // Know your worth, then add tax. No, like literally: Add on the state tax!
For all of my service-based boss babes, just because you’re not selling a physical product doesn’t mean tax has to be “included” in the rates that you set. Any human on this earth that has ever made a purchase before is well aware that taxes get added on at the end. Don’t be afraid to command what you want PLUS the tax that Uncle Sam is going to PROMPTLY ask you for at the end of every quarter. If paying an additional tax is what a factor that might stop someone from working with you, trust me, that person was probably going to be a nightmare to work with anyway. Charge tax and dodge bullets like a boss.
You started that business because you wanted to live your best life. But if your business is currently running you, then it’s time to change that! These 4 tips are a great place to start, but you don’t have to stop there. Incorporate WHATEVER you need to into your daily, weekly, and monthly schedule to ensure that you are 100% running a business that you love waking up to every single morning. Especially on Sundays ;)
Photography by Kelley Raye