Setting boundaries in business - and why you need to

It can be easy to immerse ourselves completely into our business to the detriment of our own personal life, health and wellbeing. This is why it’s so important to set boundaries from the start of your business journey.

Without boundaries, you can find yourself saying yes to everyone regardless of whether you have the time, energy or resources to deliver on whatever you said yes to.

Here are 7 ways you can set up boundaries in your business.

1.????Know your values

Your boundaries will be aligned to your values.

If it’s important to you that you eat an evening meal with your family, one boundary will be the time you finish work to enable you to have that family time.

2.????Know there is enough

Be clear about how many customers you can serve to the standard you promise. Set up a waiting list when you reach that limit.

Know that there is enough for everyone so resist the urge to say you can deliver because you don’t want to lose a customer.

If the customer genuinely wants to buy from you, they’ll be happy to go on a waiting list for a time when you can deliver to them.

3.????Learn to say no more

Saying yes to everything will leave you double booked, having to go back to apologise, letting people down and causing you stress. It’s important to learn to say no.

4.????Be clear about your price

Do not under value yourself just because you can’t bear to lose a customer who says they can’t afford you. Know your worth – and stick to it.

5.????Get good at communicating expectations upfront

This is the best way to set boundaries in your business relationships.

With your customers, be clear about payment terms, your availability, when you’ll respond to emails and what guarantees you can offer.

With your team members, be clear about when they should come to you for answers (after they’ve tried figuring it out for themselves), what you expect them to achieve on a daily basis and when you cannot be disturbed.

6.????Set boundaries between business and home

This is even more important with so many people operating from their home.

7.????Taking care of your personal health and wellbeing

It’s impossible to work solely on your business with complete disregard for your personal life. It’s unsustainable.

Be sure to schedule time in your diary for your own personal health and wellbeing, whatever that means to you.

Ros Jones, Coaching & Personal Development

[email protected]

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