Self Employed - The Forgotten Community
Aug 21, 2026 · 24 min · 8 segments
When you're self-employed, saying yes can feel like part of the job. Yes to every customer, every opportunity, every request and every problem. But what is all that saying yes actually costing you?…
You know, like if you're in retail, you're like, this probably doesn't apply.
But in the service industry, you know, you take on a client, you really must monitor it.
Every time I took on a client for the money, it nearly goes wrong all the time.
Because There's a list of things, and I have a list here of have you ever dealt with a client that they want a quick fix, they want a cheap rate, they want it now, they don't respect your time or expertise, they don't listen, they're paying it, if at all, they have no loyalty, they are constantly firefighting, And truth be told, they're only in business for the money, right? They are in business for the money.
They have no cause or purpose.
You know, they just want to, oh, there's great money in there, right? And every time I stood in front of a crowd and I threw all those questions at them, how many here have clients like this? And I read all that out again, right? Most of the room puts up their hands.
Right.
And what I find is back in the day, you know, I remember Dan, you and I preaching this 15 years ago.
Right.
A lot of people say, yeah, Dan's.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Right.
What what I find in the last five years that if you don't.
stop saying yes to everything, they could actually close your business.
I know that's a strong statement, but I would be really adamant about that.
I've seen businesses choking because of this.
Yeah, and let's be honest about it, I suppose, Dan.
You know, most people don't say yes because they want to.
They say yes because they don't want to lose that opportunity or they're worried about cash flow or they want to be liked or they don't want to disappoint a friend or a colleague or they're afraid that the next opportunity won't come along, you know.
And so they say yes, even when it doesn't feel right and...
You know, saying yes, and you know this as well as I do, you know, saying yes often feels safe in the moment, but then suddenly it becomes very expensive over time, you know, and every time you say yes to the wrong thing, you're saying no to the right thing.
You know, like if you're in retail, you're like, this probably doesn't apply.
But in the service industry, you know, you take on a client, you really must monitor it.
Every time I took on a client for the money, it nearly goes wrong all the time.
Because There's a list of things, and I have a list here of have you ever dealt with a client that they want a quick fix, they want a cheap rate, they want it now, they don't respect your time or expertise, they don't listen, they're paying it, if at all, they have no loyalty, they are constantly firefighting, And truth be told, they're only in business for the money, right? They are in business for the money.
They have no cause or purpose.
You know, they just want to, oh, there's great money in there, right? And every time I stood in front of a crowd and I threw all those questions at them, how many here have clients like this? And I read all that out again, right? Most of the room puts up their hands.
Right.
And what I find is back in the day, you know, I remember Dan, you and I preaching this 15 years ago.
Right.
A lot of people say, yeah, Dan's.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Right.
What what I find in the last five years that if you don't.
stop saying yes to everything, they could actually close your business.
I know that's a strong statement, but I would be really adamant about that.
I've seen businesses choking because of this.
Yeah, and let's be honest about it, I suppose, Dan.
You know, most people don't say yes because they want to.
They say yes because they don't want to lose that opportunity or they're worried about cash flow or they want to be liked or they don't want to disappoint a friend or a colleague or they're afraid that the next opportunity won't come along, you know.
And so they say yes, even when it doesn't feel right and...
You know, saying yes, and you know this as well as I do, you know, saying yes often feels safe in the moment, but then suddenly it becomes very expensive over time, you know, and every time you say yes to the wrong thing, you're saying no to the right thing.
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