There is always going to be clients like this. Always.
Even when it seems like all they have to do is take action and their business and life will change, and yet they don't. It makes you want to slap them silly.
I had a client who was working 70-80 weeks but living paycheck to paycheck. I gave him some advice on how to fix things so he could work less and make more. They were basic, easy things. 2 years later, he's still working 70-80 hour weeks and still broke. Go figure.
This is why you have to be careful if you ever get paid based off of a percentage of sales increase. Because you are relying on them actually doing stuff to make more money and this making you money.
This is the equivalent of the shrink wrap not coming off a product.
Your best bet is to not lose any sleep over someone not taking action. It's not your job to make sure they do what you told them...unless you tell them that's what you are going to do. But I wouldn't suggest that.
What I would suggest is picking better clients. Small business owners are usually small for a reason. Their thinking. They either don't know how to grow, don't want to, or do know but don't take action. Is that the kind of person you'd expect to hear advice and then go implement?
Their also busy putting out fires. Which is ironic because usually the people putting out the fires are the arsonists.
Usually the more successful a person is the easier they'll be to coach/consult. They are successful for a reason. Most people don't luck their way into success. Success is a by product of your behaviors. Successful people are successful because they have successful behaviors.
Therefore, you want to attract those types of people. The kind of person who probably knows what you are telling them, but yet pays someone else anyway for any number of reasons.
Making more money is only one of the reasons someone would hire a consultant. So why it may seem obvious to us that "all they have to do is this, this, and that and they'll make an extra $500,000 this year," they may have their own reasons for hiring someone.
Remember, people do things for emotional reasons. Trying to understand, using logic, why they do those things is just going to give you a headache.
Even when it seems like all they have to do is take action and their business and life will change, and yet they don't. It makes you want to slap them silly.
I had a client who was working 70-80 weeks but living paycheck to paycheck. I gave him some advice on how to fix things so he could work less and make more. They were basic, easy things. 2 years later, he's still working 70-80 hour weeks and still broke. Go figure.
This is why you have to be careful if you ever get paid based off of a percentage of sales increase. Because you are relying on them actually doing stuff to make more money and this making you money.
This is the equivalent of the shrink wrap not coming off a product.
Your best bet is to not lose any sleep over someone not taking action. It's not your job to make sure they do what you told them...unless you tell them that's what you are going to do. But I wouldn't suggest that.
What I would suggest is picking better clients. Small business owners are usually small for a reason. Their thinking. They either don't know how to grow, don't want to, or do know but don't take action. Is that the kind of person you'd expect to hear advice and then go implement?
Their also busy putting out fires. Which is ironic because usually the people putting out the fires are the arsonists.
Usually the more successful a person is the easier they'll be to coach/consult. They are successful for a reason. Most people don't luck their way into success. Success is a by product of your behaviors. Successful people are successful because they have successful behaviors.
Therefore, you want to attract those types of people. The kind of person who probably knows what you are telling them, but yet pays someone else anyway for any number of reasons.
Making more money is only one of the reasons someone would hire a consultant. So why it may seem obvious to us that "all they have to do is this, this, and that and they'll make an extra $500,000 this year," they may have their own reasons for hiring someone.
Remember, people do things for emotional reasons. Trying to understand, using logic, why they do those things is just going to give you a headache.
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