The Number One Boundary You Need As A Business Owner

Back in 2019, I was out to lunch with one of my mentors.. he was the owner of a marketing agency I was working with to promote my Online Course via Facebook Ads.

I had finally started to get more balance in my life after recovering from burnout. 

Sitting down with a mouthful of food, my mentor turns to me and says... 

"Amy, whenever someone sends you a DM or inquiry on Facebook about your course, I want you to reply straight away."

I choked on my food whilst trying not to laugh until I realized he was serious. 

Me: What? Even late at night?

Mentor: YES, that's when people will most likely be looking at your offers.

The reaction on my face said it all.

Mentor: What? Don't you want to convert leads?

Me: Yes, but if a lead can't wait 24 hours for a response at a decent hour then I don't want them as a client.

We went back and forth for a while but it was a firm no from me.

See between 2015-2017 I had no boundaries.

My clients contacted me at all hours of the day, on any platform they liked. 

Messages were sprawled across Facebook Messenger, Facebook Groups, Instagram, Text Messages, and Emails. 

I often got text messages at 11 pm, 2 am, and 4 am. 

To me, there is nothing worse than rolling out of bed, looking at your phone, and seeing work messages before you have had a chance to have your morning cup of tea/coffee.

Not only that...it was so hard to keep track of communications, and I felt like I could never completely switch off.

Clients would see my "online" status on Facebook while I was watching TV in the evening and took it as an opportunity to message me.

Finally, I cracked it (and not in a good way).  

I ended up sending a pretty blunt video to my clients telling them they were not allowed to contact me at all via Instagram and Facebook Messenger or between the hours of 6 pm and 6 am. 

Was it their fault that they messaged me at all hours of the day? - No. 

It was my fault because I didn't set those boundaries, to begin with. 

Were they annoyed?  - Not really, only those who were guilty of messaging me at all hours. 

Did they respect my boundaries moving forward - absolutely.  

The best part was when I re-did the video (without the emotional outburst!) I made sure any new clients watched the video and were aware of my boundaries from the start.

So if you feel like the line is becoming blurry when communicating with clients implement communication boundaries and I promise you your stress levels will significantly decrease and you will be happier for it.

And if they don't respect your boundaries then you have permission to fire them as a client. (I have also done this a couple of times - more on that another time).

But what about team members?

A few years ago I consulted with a client in Sydney. Each week I would fly up for 2 days and help her streamline her business. 

Each week she would have a plan on what she would like to work on, but when I got there our days were spent putting out fires.

No day went smoothly or according to plan, everything was in a constant state of reaction. 

As we drove around Sydney trying to create systems on the go, each drive she would get 5-7 phone calls from team members, calling in sick, something happened with one of her stores, or someone was going to be late, plus calls from agents wanting to offer her more business.

I was exhausted just watching and listening to the events happening around me.

And so was she. 

Many times she would lash out at her team, have a rant, then break down and cry.

It was hard to watch - she was trying so hard, but it was all getting too much. 

Finally, I suggested she come to Melbourne instead. 

On arrival again, she had a list of the things she wanted to do. 

I said we can do that if you want. But I think your biggest issue at the moment is not having any communication boundaries or chain of command in your business. 

The thing is, your team should not be coming to you for every little problem in your business. 

Just because you as the founder know the answer, doesn't mean you need to be the first point of contact to give it. 

Create ways for team members to find the information for themselves by creating systems, and implementing a chain of command. 

So right now you have a choice...

OR 

You can be a Free Founder who owns a profitable lifestyle business that can operate without them. 

If that's you, then I invite you to check out my free email course Fastrack to Freedom. 

Over 7 days you will unblock the 7 mindset beliefs that are keeping you time-poor & trapped in your business. 

Click here to get access to the free course

Amy x