Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash
Point A to Point B Transitions Inc. turned eight this week! Understandably, I found myself thinking about the journey – our Point A to Point B.
Between 2010 and now there have been some huge wins and some epic face-plants.
We’ve helped our clients achieve things they never dreamed were possible – a 50% pay increase, job offer within six weeks after being in transition for 18 months, transition from 15-year entrepreneur to very happy employee – so many great stories.
There also have been some crushing blows along the way…
The biggest challenge I have faced was finding a business model that worked for both me and my clients. Many of my clients are in financial hardship when they reach out for help, so the standard high monthly retainer model didn’t enable me to work with professionals that I knew I could help.
This broke my heart, and sometimes my bank account when I opted to work with them pro bono.
When I finally landed on a contingency model for career transition, everything started coming together. FINALLY, I was able to get paid appropriately for the value I provided to my clients. They were more than happy to pay me if I was able to help them get a job, they just couldn’t (or didn’t feel like they could) pay me while in transition.
Since I take all the risk when working with my Job Search VIP Coaching clients (contingency), I also became crystal clear on who is a good fit and who is not.
I am investing a ton of time and energy, so I need to confirm that a client is the right fit (coachable, motivated, and willing to do the hard work).
Every now and then I take a leap of faith or misjudge, but it’s usually just one or two clients a year, so that’s OK.
Working for yourself is great and terrible, awful and amazing. There is no easy way to work. I just wrote a post about that on Carol Roth’s blog.
But, I will say that every day I wake up feeling grateful that I get to do this work and I get to work with amazing clients I love.
Dear clients and prospective clients, please know that I love and respect all of you more than I can say. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to help you find your right next step. You rock!