This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
How can you set better boundaries with clients? That's today's focus. Welcome to Side Hustle School, Chris Guillebeau here. It's also my last day of hosting neurodiversion in Austin, Texas, an all new event series in celebration of ADHD, autism, and other neurodivergent conditions. Been working on this for six months, so it's been so much fun to see it come to life.
You can learn more about that at neurodiversion.org. And of course, I'm still rolling with the podcast. This is episode 3,010. It reminds me of an episode just a week ago, 3,003, about, who was this, let's see, a custom clothing designer who was struggling with clients, remote clients, sending inaccurate measurements, which led to all kinds of problems. Today, we've got a similar topic, or at least a similar, broadly speaking, comes from a home organizer who is passionate about helping people declutter, but frequently runs into clients who struggle to let go of sentimental items.
So I guess what they have in common is this is a challenge with client work, all right? And it not only slows down the organizing process in her case, but it also makes the job more emotionally draining. So what can you do as a service provider? And let's look at it from the perspective of anybody performing a service. How can you get better at setting boundaries with clients?
And this will actually, and if you do it right, it'll actually make your life better and things better for the client. It's not so much about just clamping down and being like, "Oh, I'm not gonna do this for my clients." No, you want to do a good job for your clients, of course, but sometimes they might need a little help in just defining what it is you can do and how you can best serve them. So that's the perspective that we'll take here. And looking at this question, detailed version from Kelly and my answer coming right up. [Music]
Hey, Chris, it's great to leave a question here.
I've been listening for a while. My name is Kelly, and I'm an elementary school teacher. I also have a side hustle as a home organizer, which I really have been enjoying. However, I often work with clients who struggle to part with sentimental items, which significantly slows down the process. After experiencing this with multiple clients, my patience has begun to wear thin.
How do I help them make decisions without being too pushy? Should I change my pricing if I run into these kinds of issues? [Music]
Well, I do think this particular business is working in a field that has maybe a higher level of required emotional labor than some products or services, just because when people hire a home organizer, they're likely feeling overwhelmed. And part of the overwhelm is not just a physical problem of having too much stuff. I can't make decisions about this because I'm afraid to let go of things.
So I would actually think that a core part of the work is finding a way to navigate that process and providing some solutions, providing ultimately relief to your clients. That's what they're seeking, they're seeking relief. They don't want to be bogged down by all of this stuff. So that's the first thing I think about this particular industry is it's a core part of the work. And it's not entirely an issue of boundaries.
But that said, what can you do? You can set clear expectations from the start. So maybe an organizer would say something like, hey, sorting sentimental items can be tough. That's perfectly normal. My job is to guide you while keeping us focused on your goals.
Like you hired me because this is overwhelming to you and you want to feel better. So to reach the best outcome, I'm gonna need your timely feedback and decisions. That just kind of helps us keep the project on track. So just setting those expectations or communicating clearly, clients often appreciate that. As I said, it's not so much you like laying down the hammer, it's you saying, here's how we're gonna get the best results together.
And then if you are actually setting boundaries, just do so with empathy. Here's an example for an organizer. You might say, I know this item is special to you. How about we create a keepsake box so you can hold onto this memory while still making progress today, right? And that way we're kind of like solving the problem, but also we're still rolling along.
And then for a different industry, let's say the design industry, maybe you say something like to meet your launch date, we need final approval on the design by Friday. That's just making it really clear. This is the date that we need. Let me know if you need help deciding, I'm here to guide you. But the deadline is the deadline.
And then maybe lastly, know when to refer out. Like if you really are getting stressed and you're like, I can't do this too much. In extreme cases, you might wanna refer clients to specialists or to somebody else or just to kind of turn down business so that you can be fresh for the business you are able to take on. Ultimately, you're doing this because it's exciting and fun to you and you're able to make extra income from it. But hopefully you're also providing a need that makes that person, that customer, that client's life better as well.
And so you have to take care of yourself so that you can stay productive on your end. That's my two cents. Kelly, I know it's important work that you're doing. Listeners, I know you're doing important things as well. Take care of yourselves over there.
I'll be back again tomorrow with a new episode. So excited to bring you a podcast episode every single day, seven days a week, always completely free. My name is Chris Guillebeau and you're listening to "Side Hustle School." [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
