Dear Danielle:
Do you ever work on-site for clients? –MR
Working on-site defeats the whole purpose of being an online business.
In the very early years of my business, I had a few local clients where I would go on-site once a week to check in, pick up and drop off work.
What I eventually realized is that even though I charged for my time and mileage, going on-site incurs a cost far beyond the mere billable hours.
It depletes the time and energy you need to focus on client work, as well as marketing and taking care of your own administrative needs.
It also affects the quality and level of consistent service you provide to existing clients who are completely remote.
In the time it takes to service just one client on-site, you could be working with 10 times more clients strictly online (and making more money).
When you start clients off with on-site visits, it’s extremely difficult to wean them from that expectation once you realize it doesn’t work for you and is too costly to your business and ability to work with other clients.
On top of that, it just really disrupts your “flow.”
You have to consider the prep time, travel time, and getting mentally and physically settled-in time.
I found that on days when I knew I had to go somewhere, my brain wouldn’t mentally shift into doing any in-depth work that required concentration because I knew I’d have to stop, and not necessarily at a convenient spot.
I found on-site work completely unproductive and energy-draining.
I quit doing on-site meetings years ago, and even though I work mostly with local clients, none of it is on-site/in-person.
I would never consider taking on any new local client who wants on-site work. My service is strictly online and it’s so much easier, stress-free and profitable.
(Plus, I’m not a temp or employee, thank you very much!)
As you refine your client profile, you can eliminate anyone who can’t work under the conditions you set such working completely online, but I do recommend learning from my experience (and saving yourself some growing pains) by not taking any client who expects on-site work or visits in the first place.
You can educate your site visitors and prospects about how all that works on your website. That way, those who contact you for a consultation will be more qualified, ideal and likely client candidates.