Are you a multi-talented service provider facing growth challenges? As someone who has worn many hats and offered various services, I understand the struggle of trying to be everything for everyone. It seems like a good strategy — more services should mean more clients, right? But in reality, spreading yourself too thin can limit your growth and lead to overwhelm or burnout. In this article, I’ll share how specialization lightens your workload, increases your income, and ultimately, builds a more sustainable and enjoyable career.
The Swiss Army Knife Dilemma
With decades of experience in online marketing, my list of skills is long. I’ve been known to jokingly call myself the Swiss Army knife of marketers. However, what I learned many years into my now 13-year business journey is that just because you can provide a service doesn’t mean you should. Many solopreneurs operate under an agency model, offering a menu of services priced with a retainer model or hourly package. The problem is that responding to client demands makes you less efficient, leading to wasted effort.
Why Specialization is Key
Specialization means focusing on delivering one specific outcome for one specific audience by following defined steps, resulting in specific deliverables within a set timeframe for a fixed price. This approach streamlines your service delivery, increases efficiency, and positions you as an expert in your niche.
Offering many services doesn’t make you the go-to person for any specific thing. I used to think the more services I offered, the more money I could make. However, this inefficient model capped my earnings at $60,000 a year. Working tirelessly without time to focus on marketing, sales, or operations led to burnout and resentment toward my business.
The Trap of Hiring to Scale
In an attempt to solve overworking and hitting an income ceiling, I hired others to help deliver services. However, this resulted in ballooning overhead and team management headaches. Often, the work received from team members wasn’t up to my standards, creating more effort for me. Hiring to replicate my skillset didn’t save me time and didn’t help me earn more money. My overhead had ballooned, and I was making less money to work more!
A team is necessary for growth, but not to replicate your skill set. Statistics show the agency model is inherently flawed. For example, agencyanalytics.com says the average profit margin in a U.S.-based marketing agency is just 10%. So, if you earned a million dollars in your agency, with a bunch of people working under you to deliver service, you only take home $100,000. Whereas, if you become a specialist with a team to help support operations, and you’re the main expert delivering service, you get to keep a far greater margin, such as 60%. So now you’re looking at earning $600,000 during a million-dollar year. Lots better, right?
The Solution: Magnetic Offers
By becoming a specialist and restructuring my service offers, I’ve increased my capacity for gross earnings by 283%. In step one of my four-part Fully Booked Framework, I help clients develop Magnetic Offers that sell and help scale their business. Many people create offers and struggle to get any clients to pay for them. This is because the offers are not created based on feedback about what the market wants. It also may be a misalignment with messaging, which we address in step two of the Fully Booked Framework, Magnetic Message. Another reason an offer might not sell is simply due to a lack of visibility, which is something we address in step four of the Fully Booked Framework, Content to Cash.
Ready to Break Through Your Growth Challenges?
As a solopreneur, the best way to serve more clients without burning out is to package your solutions into a repeatable workflow focusing on the most important outcomes for your clients. If you’re tired of overworking and hitting an income ceiling, and you want a clear action plan for growth, I want to invite you to a free, Fully Booked Strategy session with me. In this personalized call, we’ll pinpoint your growth bottlenecks and obstacles for increased client attraction. In the end, you’ll have a clear picture of where to focus your efforts. Click here to book your free, Fully Booked Strategy session and start your journey to sustainable growth and success!
