This is so common and actually it’s more appropriate to say it’s rare that I meet a self-employed person who prioritises working on their business over client work.

But why do we do it and how can we restore the balance?

Here are five reasons and five solutions:

Reason one:

Clients are tied directly to income, right now, so of course you’re going to prioritise that because client work = money.

Solution:

Remind yourself to play the long game. Spending a morning working on your business is going to unlock plans to ensure the right clients consistently show up.

Reason two:

It feels safe and easy. We know where to start with client work because we know what we’re doing and how to do it. Working on our own businesses is often the unknown and we don’t know where to start. It feels too big and overwhelming

Solution:

Begin by asking yourself the question: why do I need to work on my business? What needs to be worked on? If something like marketing, business development or your website comes out of that (let’s be honest it’ll probably be more than that) write down just one task. Eg. If it’s marketing you could simply write a blog to help your SEO or if it’s business development your task could be to spend an hour writing down who you think your ‘audience’ or ideal clients are and if your current audience aligns with that.

Reason three:

It’s uncomfortable, maybe even painful.

Solution:

Lean into the ickiness and friction it brings up. Once you accept it’s not going to feel great initially, you’ll show your brain that you’re in control and can do hard things.

Reason four:

You get instant validation from a client and working on your business can feel like silent or hidden work that nobody sees or validates.

Solution:

Yep. But this hard work right now will eventually result in even more validation from clients, and from the right clients that feel more aligned than ever.

Reason five:

You don’t know how to do it.

Solution:

You don’t need to do this alone, get some help with it, even an hour chat with an expert on business development/strategy will help unlock barriers to you getting everything you want. And it doesn’t need to take ages, just setting aside a few hours in a block or an hour a week can make a massive difference. And you likely spend that amount of time scrolling anyway, right? I know I do.

Everything I’ve created at Wild helps you work on (and in!) your business and the reason I run days like the Spring Retreat or 1:1 CEO days with me is because I see the magic and powerful transformation that happens every single time.

Finding out what you want and how to get it is a feeling that’s hard to beat when you’re starting or growing a business that works for you.