Keep Clients From Ruining Your Life Using These 7 Boundaries

Brian Hood (0:00)

This is the 6 Figure Home Studio Podcast, episode 10

Oh, hello friends who are listening to this podcast. We're back for another episode. It's another week, it's another episode. And today's episode is going to cover something that is a tough pill to swallow for some of you, because it does the exact thing that most people hate, and it's shifting the blame back to you. And here's what I mean.

When a client does something that you hate, when a client does something that you would think ruined your day or ruined your life, or just really pissed you off in the moment, in many, many instances, the blame can go back to you. And that's because you failed to set boundaries. You failed to put boundaries into place that would have prevented them from doing that thing that ruined your day or your life in the first place. Or you failed to put that boundary into place that forced them to respect your boundaries and respect you as a human being in what hopes, dreams, and desires you have in your life. Because again, I've talked about this tons and tons in the past. I've said it many, many, many, many times, but you are not your business. You are separate from your business. So today's episode is all about putting those boundaries into place on your business. So that your business does not leak over into your personal life and ruin your personal life. And those of you with families, and those of you with spouses, and those of you in long-term relationships, this is especially important for you guys and girls because things that happen in the business will always get carried over to your personal life if you let them. And we're going to do every single thing we can today to give you the boundaries you need to set in your business to keep it from ruining your life. So without further delay, here is my conversation with Chris Graham.

Chris, can you talk about or think of the most annoying client you've ever worked with?

Chris Graham (2:10)

Oh, that's a good one.

I had a client a couple years ago. This is before I was just... Well, this is more than a decade ago.

This is before I was just doing mastering. And he was just one of those clients where every single thing was in negotiation. It was constantly, can you do this one more thing? Can you cut me a deal? Can you lower your price? Can I pay you later? And I ended up getting paid, but like a year and a half after when agreed on. And it was awful. And, oh man, I mean, it was just terrible. I mean, like he was friends with all my friends and kind of a big deal in my community. And he was just a complete jerk.

And I thought I was running my business well by giving great customer service and continually giving him what he asked for. But it was this, if you give a mouse a cookie, he'll want a glass of milk thing. Every single hookup I would give this guy, he'd ask for one more hookup. And it was all about what I could do for him and never any reciprocation of any level. It was wild.

Brian Hood (3:26)

Well, I think that really leads into today's episode, and that is setting some boundaries. I think that both of us could agree that if you would have had this podcast episode that we're about to lay out here, if you'd have had that before you worked with that man, I could almost guarantee you if you followed what we're going to talk about today, none of that would have happened, or very, very little of that would have happened, and you would have had a much, much easier time moving forward with that project, or better off not doing that project.

Chris Graham (3:57)

Oh my gosh, yeah.

Brian Hood (3:59)

So what are we going to talk about today, Chris?

Chris Graham (4:00)

Boundaries and why they are maybe one of the most important, most required things you need to have to run a successful business for the long haul.

You can run a good business for a while without boundaries, maybe, but you will get destroyed. It'll ruin your life if you don't have boundaries.

Brian Hood (4:21)

And specifically, we're going to give you seven boundaries that you can implement this year to keep your business from ruining your life.

Chris Graham (4:28)

Oh, this episode is so good. I wish I could have heard it 10 years ago when I needed it.

Brian Hood (4:33)

So Chris, let's just dive right into this.