Day 24: Creating a Safe Harbor – Using Boundaries

Boundaries, baby.  You need them. That doesn’t sound very customer-lovey does it?

Hear me out.  It IS.

You cannot be everything to everyone.  You can’t help every single person who asks for a giveaway or a freebie.  If you do,  you forget your value. And the people you really want to love – the ones that need you and only you?  They can’t find you – because you’re diluted and tired and burned out. You are in business and that requires some hierarchies to be in place. Businesses make money.  Non-profits open their doors and do their best to triage everyone who comes to them.

Your business evolved out of something you loved to do.  You don’t want to be Acme Enterprises Worldwide (probably).  You want to be You, LLC.  You want to help people, you want to entertain people, you want to share a message with people.

And you want to earn money.

This is important.  It’s how you get to love you.  When you have enough money to pay your bills without struggle, and take your peeps out for a nice meal now and again and tend to family needs as well as take a vacation or two – you’re living a well-balanced life.  And the love comes easy. When you feel like every moment is a struggle, when you are afraid to shout your story from the rooftops for fear of that creditor hunting you down – you are out of balance.  The love is hard.

Customers love those who love themselves.

You love yourself and your business by having boundaries. “Wait!” You screech, “I’m supposed to be transparent, and authentic and REAL!  I can’t have boundaries.  People will think I’m a snob or rude or a jackarse.”

MMMMkay.

When you are ready to treat yourself to a new “do” and you call your favorite, smack-talking, dye-licious stylist to make an appointment and he tells you there’s no way he can get you in at your preferred time of 7 am (after all, he needs his beauty sleep to work his wonders), do you get all in his grill about how uncustomer-friendly he is?  No.  You take the appointment time he’s got and you’re glad of it.

Boundaries

Even if you’re business is a brand new baby business, understanding your value and the results your clients get when they work with you gives you the freedom to create boundaries that are right for you (and for them). Contrary to popular belief, saying yes to everyone and loving everyone isn’t the key to abundance.  It’s a door to overwhelm, heartbreak and more often than not, lack.

You started this customer love quest to build your business through a “new”way of marketing.  Love-marketing  works when you love you and your business as much as you love your customers.

Your perfect customers find you because you ARE you – and you’re modeling the behavior they want in their lives.

So when they see you loving yourself and your business with respect and candor, they know it’s possible.  No matter what you’re selling, your customers – the ones you love to love – are also buying your boundaries because they honor their own boundaries. A few places to look to fine-tune your boundaries are your operating hours, your rates, your intake policies, your payment requirements, your pro bono policies, etc.

What about you?  Are there simple places to shore up your boundaries that will provide you more comfort and love?  Tell us about them!