I am making some changes in my business and that means moving some clients on while bringing on new (different!) ones.
My business has changed from providing VA work to running my training and coaching Your VA Mentor business, along with running my VA associations, CAVA and GAVA.
So the time comes to move my VA clients over to new VAs.
I have moved many clients in and out of my business over the last 20 years, and I always strive for excellence when I do it.
That means doing it fairly swiftly, while providing the new VA as much information as possible so that the transition can be seamless.
That means making sure that the new VA can succeed and that the client remains well looked after.
That means providing the pieces I have available for my successor so that they can do the job.
I do as much as I can (and as a point of interest, I know that I do more than most VAs when they are doing this same thing).
Excellence is not perfection. Far from it actually!
Excellence means that you do what you do to the best of your ability.
Excellence is something we should strive for every day … so it becomes a habit instead of a goal.
Perfection means trying to maintain control of someone else which, honestly, is not even possible.
In my example here, I stop being in control the moment I leave. I am no longer responsible. I can not control what the client and new VA will do when I leave. And I don’t need to!
It’s a tough transition sometimes, particularly if I have worked with a client for a long time.
So really, perfection makes no difference to this situation in the end.
Excellence though … yeah! it does!
So while I’ve been doing this with a few clients, a thought keeps recurring in my head about your business.
Are you striving for perfection with everything you do?
Or are you striving for excellence?
My recommendation is to strive for excellence. Perfection is the achilles heel that will stop you at every single turn.
If your website is not yet perfect, it should not stop you from networking or marketing. Look at your Google Analytics – I’m guessing if you are getting 1,000s of visits to your site every day this would be an issue, but are you?
If your list of services doesn’t seem perfect, it should not stop you from bringing in clients. Talk to people. What do they want you to do for them? Can you help them? Voila – a client!
If your business plan is not yet complete, it should not stop you from making decisions. Building your business is as simple as finding someone who needs your help and getting them to pay you. This doesn’t always happen the way you plan it.
There are so many ways that we (consciously or unconsciously) stop ourselves from moving forward – whether it’s in the planning stages of our business, or the growth stages.
So if you strive for excellence instead of perfection, it becomes an amazing habit and real attribute to anyone who works with you.
Holding yourself to a high level of excellence every day is much easier than you think.
You are probably already there.
Perfection is a business killer. I really believe that.
You are enough. You can do it. You are excellent!
Check out my ‘works in progress’ here … Your VA Mentor, CAVA and GAVA. I’d love to chat more about them if they interest you!