Time is valuable. 2024 is the year my company Communics scales back big time on the amount of services AND the free service level it provides.
It was either this or shutting my business down entirely. I learned over the years that providing service (and expertise) for free makes people feel entitled to it. Sometimes it even led to some clients starting behaving in an abusive fashion.
“Yeah, I know it’s the weekend, but it is very important”, and then asking for free service.
I never bothered to write down the service levels before into detail so that’s partly on me. But I always thought I was able to manage and that conversation solved every problem. It doesn’t. It got me to the point where I didn’t like my job anymore. A good chunk of my time was solving other peoples issues. That’s gotta stop.
As it is my own company I was either to fix this or finish it. That’s where I’m at now, trying to fix it.
I’m going to focus back on what I love and what am good at. I’m going to dismiss all related services that do not fit. Also I’m going to charge more. Clients that do not (want to) match this new direction will have to go elsewhere.
All this is a massive undertaking, but it’s worth a shot.
At some undisclosed time in the future I might book some limited time a week or a month for pro-bono stuff, but let’s see how this goes first.
Oh, and at some point I’m getting rid of WhatsApp. It’s intrusive nature sets my teeth on edge. It’s bad for streamlining processes not to mention the privacy issue. Stay tuned.