Not every client is your client
One of the hardest lessons to learn in business is that not every client is meant for you. In the early stages especially, it can feel like survival depends on saying yes to anyone who enquires. You convince yourself that turning someone away would be reckless, even arrogant or irresponsible. And so you accept the client who haggles your price, the one who drains your energy, or the one who doesn’t really want to change but wants you to carry the weight for them.
And sometimes we don’t have the choice because we need to make bank. You don’t need to police or gaslight yourself for being pragmatic about making money, because that is also the system trying to trip you up.
But the problem comes if this situation is allowed to continue, so over time we inadvertently end up creating a business that doesn’t attract the people we are most aligned with. And those decisions cost us.
The cost is rarely financial at first, but far subtler. It is the erosion of your energy and the quiet reinforcement of a story you’ve been handed: that your time isn’t yours, that you must over-deliver and under-charge to be worthy, that you cannot afford to be discerning. You may tell yourself that it’s only temporary, that once you reach consistent months you’ll be more selective.
But in reality, every compromise pushes sustainability further away.
It’s easy to believe that your business just needs more clients to be successful, when what it actually needs is the right clients. The ones who arrive already believing in the work, ready to invest in themselves, respectful of your time and expertise, and willing to take action.
Those are the clients who create the conditions for ease and repeatable income. And finding them isn’t about luck. It is about choosing, deliberately and consistently, even when it feels uncomfortable.
In my own business, I have come to hold a simple set of rules. I only work with clients who carry the problem I am here to solve, who are willing to invest in the solution, who respect the boundaries that protect my time and energy, and who are willing to do the work alongside me.
Anything less is not service, it is sacrifice.
As the founders of our businesses, we must be prepared to hold ourselves to a higher standard, and when we do, that is when everything shifts: your capacity is no longer consumed by compromise, you stop filling your schedule with people who don’t get you or your work.
Instead you create space for the kind of business you actually want: one that protects you, sustains you, and allows for steady, repeatable months — whether that looks like £5K, £10K, or beyond — without replicating the grind you walked away from.
And when you do that, I promise you, you will do your best work as a result, for the people that really need it.
Saying no is not scarcity. It is sovereignty. It is how you claim a business that is truly yours.
If you’ve been considering working together, now’s the time to apply for a one-hour call. Let’s explore how I can support you through one of 1:1 coaching partnerships.
