I was working on a client project when I came across a wonderful quote. It’s intended to be light-hearted, but it contains a spectacularly important message. And rather surprisingly, it also carries a valuable lesson for every business owner.

“Real wealth is never having to spend time with assholes.” – John Waters.

In the speech that quote came from, Waters talks about being rich and how it’s given him the freedom to avoid assholes.

Similarly, one of the many freedoms of owning a business is that you get to select exactly who you choose to work with. As a business owner, there’s no need whatsoever for you to spend time around bad clients (or customers)… assholes, as Waters describes them.

And that message is really important to remember. It’s important because somewhere along the way, many business owners forget that they have total freedom to only work with great people.

Beggars can’t be choosers

Whenever I speak about this with a group of business owners, someone will usually tell me that they have to take whatever comes along. And in support of that factually incorrect statement, they’ll tell me that ‘beggars can’t be choosers’.

I then remind them.

They’re not beggars… they’re business owners.

And that as a business owner, they have to be extremely choosy who they work for. You can’t build a successful business on a foundation of bad clients.

No one wants to work with whatever their definition of a bad client is. The problem is a natural consequence of feeling trapped, because you’re not attracting enough new, high quality clients.

It looks something like this.

• The business owner identifies a client as a pain in the ass. Maybe the client pays late, is rude, over demanding, unprofessional, whatever.
• The business owner clearly does not want to work with them.
• However, the business owner is scared to fire the asshole client, fearing they’ll be unable to replace them with a high quality client.
• The asshole is then left free to take the joy (and usually the profitability) out of the business owner’s work.

The good news here is that bad clients are not an unavoidable part of being in business. In fact, they’re a must-avoid part of being in business. Bad clients are like poison. They’re toxic to the success of your business and to your mental well-being in some cases.

If this is a problem for you, take some time to describe what your ideal client looks like. Include as much detail as possible. And remember that you’re describing your ideal client. So be really choosy.

Then focus 100% of your marketing on these amazing prospective clients. Talk to their needs, wants and expectations.

You deserve great clients. Great clients who inspire you to do your very best work. Great clients, who recommend you to more great clients.

And shun the assholes.

Everyone will ignore you.

And that’s perfectly fine.

Because some people will love you.

The message in those 3 sentences is worth remembering. For example, when you’re creating a new product, working with a designer or putting a marketing strategy together.

Here’s the thing

You can’t appeal to everyone. So focus your business development on some people.

Some people?

• The kind of people who ‘get’ the way you work.
• The kind of people who value your vision.
• The kind of people who will love working with you or buying from you.

It’s the fastest, least expensive and most straightforward way to dramatically improve your marketing results.

They’re everywhere: experts, claiming to be able to deliver unbelievable results in unbelievable time with unbelievably little effort.

Don’t believe them!

Growth hacking, business hacking, success systems, tricks and shortcuts are everywhere. Not because they WORK, but because they SELL.

A huge subset of the population wants to believe that they can get rich (thin, healthy) quick. They want to reap the harvest, without planting the seeds and tending the soil. They want the rewards, without the effort. They’re looking for magic – something that breaks the laws of cause and effect.

This is why today, we see the marketplace flooded with online gurus selling the 21st century equivalent of snake oil. It’s well-crafted bullshit. Bullshit designed to press all the right buttons, on those who are looking for unbelievable results. And the hungry marketplace laps it up.

The fastest route to success

The fastest way to get from where you are, to where you want to be, is to take the most direct route. To find out what works and do it. It’s about doing the right things, correctly.

Shortcuts to success are nothing more than costly detours. Be extremely cautious of anyone trying to tell you otherwise.

Image: Esteban Lopez – Unsplash

Every business owner has weaknesses.

Every single one of us. Including you and me.

But that’s okay.

After all, even Superman has kryptonite to contend with. He knows that this mysterious substance weakens or eliminates his super powers. So he does everything he can to avoid the problems kryptonite causes, and comes out winning.

Business owners. Not so much!

Unlike Superman, business owners are usually aware of our weaker areas, but unaware of the often serious damage caused by them.

Here are a few common examples of how this looks and why it manages to persist.

• The business owner who starts too many sales presentations with an excuse for being a few minutes late, may think it doesn’t matter. They’re unaware that every prospective client who values punctuality will feel very differently about it. The business owner will wonder why they never won the contract… and write the prospect off as a time waster. So the problem persists.
• The business owner who avoids making big decisions until the last moment, may think it doesn’t matter. They’re unaware that leaving things until the last minute means they have fewer options open. They lose valuable time, end up with vastly limited choices, are forced into making a worse decision, and blame it on bad luck. So the problem persists.
• The business owner who does pretty-much what they’re paid for and very little more, may think it doesn’t matter. Their customers end up with the minimum required, not outstanding value, and seldom recommend them. The business owner then assumes that their customers just aren’t the kind of people who give referrals. So the problem persists.
• The business owner who thinks it’s okay to develop their business as if it was a Do It Yourself hobby, may think it doesn’t matter. They’re unaware that their DIY approach to systems, marketing, legals, planning, financials and strategy, etc., is making it impossible for them to succeed. The business owner assures themselves they’re saving money, when they’re missing out on a fortune. So the problem persists.

Jim Rohn used to tell us that the reason failure is so common, is that it’s incredibly subtle. The vast majority of businesses tend not to fail overnight, the result of a single, cataclysmic event. It’s the smaller errors in judgement we regularly make, which rob us of the success we want.

That’s why it’s so important to pay attention to what we do and how we do it. Even those things that may not seem obviously important.

No. I take that back.

Especially those things that may not seem obviously important.