Clients are the backbone of every solo service professional’s business. If you don’t have any, or enough, clients then you’re going to struggle to grow and build a profitable business. Therefore business owners are always on the lookout for strategies, tools, resources etc. that will make the client acquiring process much easier.
But there’s one really simple strategy that many business owners don’t even think about … it’s cleaning out your office!
This past break I spent a good few hours cleaning out my office cupboards, desk and PC. You see, over the past year the papers had built up and I needed to make some more space. Not that my office was cluttered or there were paper piles everywhere (that’s a different article!), it’s just that through the day-to-day management of running two businesses, I’d let things build up.
So, I took myself off into my office for the afternoon and just simply started sorting, sifting, and trashing. I filled up with two black bags of trash … and I found some hidden gems too.
Cleaning out your office allows you to:
1. Review past client files and reconnect. If, like I do, you tend to work with clients for a specific project, or over a certain length of time (say a six-month program), then chances are you haven’t connected with them for a while, especially if your work together happened at the start of the year. In going through all of your client files, you can revisit the work you did together, and use it as an opportunity to check back in with them, see how they’re doing, and ask if there’s anything you can do to help them.
2. Go through those papers/products you’d created or bought to see if they’re still relevant.We’re entrepreneurs, right? So that means we’re always creating something new. There are many files in my cabinets where I’ve started working on an idea only to end up not taking it further; or I’ve delivered a program and have decided not to deliver it again; or I’ve bought a product or program, taken part in it at the time, and then not looked at the file again. This is a great time to go through all of those files and see what you can find. I discovered:
- A few great templates and cheat sheets that I’d created several years ago that would be perfect for my current signature program.
- Some wonderful golden nuggets of information from a product or program that I’d purchased that I’d simply forgotten about and are really relevant and helpful to what’s going on in my business today.
3. Refocus your business. Seeing what you’ve worked on this past year makes you ask yourself “do I want more of the same this coming year or am I ready for something different?” It’s a great way to do some business planning. What direction do you want to take your business this year? What new products or programs do you want to offer? Looking back over the past twelve months can be exactly what you need to do to plan for the coming twelve months.
4. Generate new ideas for products/programs/services. When you carry out the process above, especially points 2 and 3, you’ll find you come up with some great ideas for new offerings this year. Through doing this process myself I came up with two brand-new programs that I’ll be offering this year. And because I was excited about these programs I was able to sit down and map them both out easily. I’m not creating anything brand-new here, just simply repurposing what I already do and have, and delivering it in a new format.
My request to you:
Set aside an afternoon/evening or weekend to clear out your office files and cupboards. Also spend some time sorting out your PC files and folders too.
And let me know what this process turns up for you by sharing in the comments section below.
