“Should I just give up and go back to corporate?”
When it feels like it’s not working.
Happy Friday, friends!
Just about every fractional leader and independent consultant I know has had moments where they consider giving up and going back to corporate - myself included.
Back in 2020, I was earning more than I ever had in my life. But that September, I found myself client-less. Since I’d been socking away money into savings, I wasn’t particularly worried, but as weeks and months passed without a single client, anxiety crept in. And in late December, after months of watching my savings slowly deplete and without a single sales call on my calendar, I accepted an offer for a full-time role - one that I ended up resigning from just six weeks later (a story for another day).
Today, I’ll share how I ended up in that position and what I’d do differently if I knew then what I know now…
🧐 Why it wasn’t working
I’d never had a problem finding clients before, so when I hit that dry spell, I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. I hired a coach, poured my energy into refining my niche and positioning, and still…nothing. Not a single lead.
Friends, the problem was not with my niche or my positioning. Was there room to refine both? Sure. But my real problem was that I wasn’t getting in front of prospective clients. And spending months spinning on my niche and positioning was just a distraction from the real work I needed to do to actually keep my business alive.