Earlier this year I sat down with one of our big clients. He was excited about the growth of his company and eager to plan multiple events to showcase his brand and products. This was a very exciting meeting for my team because it meant increased revenue from one of our favorite client’s and the ability to produce the types of events that we love. Additionally, combined with our other events it put us at our event goal for the year (we were winning straight out of the gate!)

We hit the ground running with several events and then we noticed a shift occur. Our client began to restructure things and pull events from our calendar. As the boss lady here at Savvy I was concerned, but stayed the course and continued to produce the events that we had on our calendar. Suddenly, the client had removed nearly half of the events that we were scheduled to produce. I was devastated. This didn’t have to do with our ability to produce outstanding events and deliver top-notch service, it had everything to do with our client’s desire to focus less on live events.

To say I was bummed is an understatement. After working with this client for several years I thought it was a given that they would continue to hire us. I had gotten…dare I say it…comfortable. In this comfort zone, I stopped pitching new clients. I wasn’t as focused on making sure our SEO was on point. I didn’t put networking events on the priority list. I was comfortable working with our steady clientele and booking clients as they came to us. I wasn’t putting forth the effort to grow and cultivate new business.

I toyed with the idea of whether or not I wanted to post this blog, but I think it’s important for creatives and really all entrepreneurs to hear this. Never allow yourself to get too comfortable in business, or in life. The lesson I have learned from this season of change is that you can only control the controllables. We can control the amount of effort we put into our business. We can control our client experience, our work ethic and ensuring that we give 100% excellence to each and every client. We cannot control client’s having shifts in their businesses. We cannot control client’s deciding to go in a different direction. But we can control how we respond to those changes and you know what, I’m choosing to step out of my comfort zone. As humans, we are constantly evolving, and so are our businesses. We should always put forth the effort to grow and evolve our businesses and we can’t do that living inside of the comfort zone.

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch

What have you personally learned about getting too comfortable in your business? I’d love to hear your insight on how you shifted and turned what could have been a crappy situation into a valued learning opportunity.

Share your thoughts with me.