In my previous post, I told the tale of two clients who experienced a stressful situation stemming from people who were pushing against their mission and core values. They were testing my clients’ Law of Business Prosperity and we had to address it – stat!
In one story, it was a client behaving badly; in another, it was a sharer of a work-space who was causing tension. If you missed it, start here.
In both stories, I worked with my clients to find a resolution that originated from the Prosperity Plan we had built together.
And now, I have another story of dealing with toxic behavior, stemming from employees causing my client undue stress.
Help! My Employees Demand More Money!
My client “Kathy” has an awesome business supplying house care services in a wide geography. Clearly she can’t do it all herself and has built a team of experienced service providers to come into the homes and get the job done.
Although she had been providing these services for a few years on a much smaller scale, Kathy has a remarkable reputation and is now growing her business, her services, her book of customers, and her team. But – some of the team grumble that “the customer gives you a lot of money, why aren’t we earning more of that since we’re the ones doing the work?”
Oh boy! Kathy was caught off guard and since her business was growing faster than she had prepared for, she hadn’t experienced partnering with a mentor prior to now. Fortunately, now that we’re working together, we attacked the situation. And that’s a key word – Kathy herself felt “attacked” by the complaints of her workers.
Together we went over the list of her business expenses – none of which came out of her workers’ pockets. Then we examined the work entailed in getting those clients – something the workers didn’t have to do. A few more details of what she as the company owner had to pay for and spend time doing that her workers did not, and now we had a document that highlighted what it means to be the boss.
It clearly showed her why the business owner MUST have a significant profit margin built into her business model! She felt enlightened and empowered. She called a team meeting and went over with them why her compensation plan was indeed fair and allowed the business to keep growing – giving the workers even more opportunity for a bigger paycheck!
I helped her take back her power as the business owner, increasing her confidence as a boss.
You owe it to yourself to remove the “solo” from solo-preneur. Seek a coach, a mentor, a guide, a work partner. Find someone you gel with who shares your core values. Someone you feel comfortable reaching out to with any situation. And find someone who is responsive! If you have to wait even a few days before you get help from your coach, this isn’t helping to reduce your stress.
Let’s chat about who can help you, and whether I might be the right fit for you.