Just because
you're technically running your own company doesn't mean your clients are
treating you that way.
[Photo: clownbusiness/iStock]
Most of the world encourages you
to follow the dictates of others. In school, you receive assignments and a due
date. At that first professional job, your employer sets your work hours and
goals. Most corporate hierarchies have rules outlining what it takes to
advance, which makes employees easier to manage.
All of these strictures and
preset paths create habits—often ones that we aren't entirely conscious of.
It's only later, once you decide to work for yourself, that those patterns of
behavior start to make themselves felt. And for many, they're really hard to
shake.
You might not realize how hard at first. You create a business name,
find a place to work, design business cards, a website, and a spiffy Instagram
account. You feel like a business owner.
It's easy to think the transition is complete. Then you realize that you’ve
gotten better at simply completing tasks assigned to you than many of the other
skills self-employment demands.
You discover that working for a
company hasn't prepared you very well for working for yourself. The reward
structures are vastly different. Companies tend to discourage the type of
continuous risk taking that working for yourself requires. As an employee,
you're given projects. But now that you're responsible for your income, playing Candy Crush while waiting for work is dangerous.
Maybe you dreamed of having this
much freedom, but now you don't know what to do with it. Decision fatigue takes
hold as you make choice after choice in this unfamiliar terrain. You’re working
longer hours, have little direction, and don’t know how to regain control.
While your title may indicate that you’re the boss, you're still thinking like an employee. Your name on the door
and the freedom to work whenever you want aren't all it takes—to truly be your
own boss, you also have to shift your mind-set.
Here are three signs that it's
time to adjust your perspective, even after you've made the leap to independent
work—and what to do next.
1. THE CLIENTS SET THE TERMS
Most independents rely heavily
on their former companies and friends for first clients, often taking
whatever's offered to them. Rather than set the boundaries themselves, many
first-time independent workers default to whatever the prospect offers.
If you have little say in or
are just unhappy with the parameters of your projects, you're still thinking
like an employee.
This approach might help you
reach your income goals faster for a while, which may seem like a top priority.
If you're not careful, though, you'll be at the mercy of clients' whims, acting
more like a beholden laborer than a boss. The more you allow yourself to be
treated that way, the more your clients will do so. It's not just new
independents who find it hard to escape this employee mind-set, after all; many
stay stuck long after leaving that steady paycheck behind.
Jim Gay, the owner of the app
design firm Saturn Flyer,
fell into this trap. After three years on his own, he still didn't have
well-articulated services or a sales strategy. He took whatever work his
network threw his way. Before he left his job, Gay was a senior software
developer. Now, despite being his own boss, he was treated by clients as just
another pair of hands on the keyboard, another member of the team doing
assigned work.
While Gay made more money, the
client set his schedule, which meant a two-hour round-trip commute to an
office. Gone were those extra hours with his children he'd wanted when he went
independent. But once he shifted to thinking like a boss, Gay took control of
his work, creating well-defined services and only taking projects where he set
the terms.
If you have little say in or are
just unhappy with the parameters of your projects, you're still thinking like
an employee.
2. YOU'RE REACTIVE, NOT PROACTIVE
At your job, your role (ideally,
anyway) is to accomplish a clearly defined set of tasks according to equally
clear specifications. Your work is deemed successful if you performed
adequately, and as long as you do that, there's likely someone else to blame if
a project fails. This structure often encourages you to be reactive rather than
proactive.
When you focus on value, you
think about your client's outcome, not just whether you made a good hourly
rate.
As a business owner, though,
you're responsible for the outcome and overall success of every project. The
most successful self-employed people let go of justifications, instead acting
in the best interests of their client—even if that means tough conversations.
Taking responsibility makes you more trustworthy, and people repeatedly hire
independents they trust and fire those they don't.
If you find your emails to
clients are laden with excuses, chances are you’re still thinking like a
worker, not a business owner.
3. YOU FOCUS ON HOURS RATHER THAN SOLVING A PROBLEM
Employees work the hours
expected of them. As an independent, your job is to solve your client's
problems—whether that's increasing customer retention through new software
features or introducing a new product using a content strategy. If you're just
punching a clock, you can't consistently deliver value to your client.
A friend recently confessed that
when he was independent, he viewed the hours he worked as valuable enough on
their own. Now, as the CTO of a company, he appreciates the consultants who
focus on offering value rather than just logging hours. Being hourly-based in
your thinking is a sure sign you're still thinking like an employee.
When you set the terms, you have
more control over your deliverables. When you're proactive, you build
longer-term relationships and a steady pipeline. When you focus on value, you
think about your client's outcome, not just whether you made a good hourly
rate. Changing your mind-set to think like a business owner makes you
cherished. Your new attitude all but guarantees that you'll have clients who
rave about your work, keep you around longer, and recommend you to others.
No comments:
Post a Comment