As new business owners, we don’t think about boundaries. We will work for whoever will give us money doing, almost, whatever that client needs from us. We work night and day, we’re available on Facebook messenger, Instagram DMs, email, Voxer, and carrier pigeon. There doesn’t seem to be any separation between work time, mom time, family time, or you time. Are you nodding your head in agreement yet? I want to help you avoid this frustration and burn out whether you’ve been in business for 10 years or are just getting started. Here is how boundaries create successful businesses and how to create boundaries for your business today.

What kind of boundaries do you need?

Your business should have boundaries for, at least, the following:

• Hours and days of operations
• What services you offer
• What those services entail
• How your clients can get in touch with you

For hours and days of operations, you may have a cut-off of 2 PM in your inbox each weekday. This is something that you want to mention in your auto-reply. You can state that you are available from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM Monday – Friday and will respond within 24 hours of receiving their email. This creates a boundary, which is that you are available by email during those days and hours. Letting your clients know this ahead of time sets the expectation while the auto-reply helps remind them of the boundary and keeps expectations in check. It is just like any brick and mortar business that has a set of business hours. You’re not going to show up to Target at midnight expecting to be let in.

The #1 boundary tip I give every client

The #1 tip I give to my clients when setting boundaries is to become less available. It may seem counterintuitive at first to become less available in order to be successful, right? However, as you narrow down how and when you’re available you’re going to be able to plan your days, weeks, and months better. This is vital to a successful business because it’s going to allow you to step away from your business at certain points in your day and week. This is going to help prevent burn out since you aren’t going to be working 24/7. Which means you’re going to be able to offer the best version of yourself and your work to each one of your clients.

The best version of you and your work means happier clients, which turns into referrals, which turns into more money.

How to Set Your Boundaries

An easy way to let your clients know your boundaries is to send an “expectations guide.” A lot of the information you’re going to highlight in this document likely exists in your contract and should also be mentioned during your consultation call as to avoid surprising them later. However, this is going to be a document that they’ll be more likely to read and absorb. An example of an expectations guide can be seen here. This is one of the ones I created for my business and if you have Canva you’re welcome to use my version as a template for yours!

You’ll see that I’ve laid out my hours of service, when I take client calls, how many calls they get each month, who they might hear from within my team, and that I’m off on nights and weekends. This document is personable, I’ve given them fun facts about myself, and made it so that it doesn’t feel like a slap in their face with my boundaries.

Why Boundaries Are Important

Here’s the deal, you cannot be everywhere all the time. It’s not possible and trying to be is going to cause you more problems than solutions. Having boundaries allows you to run your business rather than your business running you.

I’ve worked with a lot of clients and I’ve not had a single one balk at the boundaries I have in place. The same will likely be said for the clients you work with and if they do balk against your boundaries they’re likely not your client.

There are very few reasons why you need to be answering emails at 10 pm. Especially if it’s an inquiry. You want to set the expectations early in your service provider-client relationship. If you answer their initial inquiry email outside of your normal admin hours then that is going to set the expectation for the rest of your working relationship. It is so much harder to set retroactive boundaries than it is to keep in line with boundaries that already exist. A workaround? If you’re answering emails late then schedule them to send out during your regular business hours. That way it’s off your to-do list but the client doesn’t have unrealistic expectations.

This is a MUST boundary

This one ties in with my #1 boundary tip. Y’all, stop replying to business inquiries through Facebook, Instagram, or text messages. You can set an auto-reply on your email and Facebook business page that redirects them to your contact page. If they’re DMing you on IG or texting you redirect them to your contact form, every.singletime.

If they’re going through your contact form then they are (hopefully) being funneled into your CRM which means all of your clients are in one place and your workflows can help weed out tire-kickers. Have no idea what I’m talking about here? Check out my blog on Dubsado (my favorite CRM) here.

When you funnel everyone into one place you’re going to be able to manage your boundaries and your clients better than if you were replying to everyone, everywhere.

How These Boundaries Are Going to Create Success

Having boundaries in your business means you’re going to be able to manage your business and clients more efficiently. Your clients are going to know when you’re available for communication, therefore, you’re not going to have the pressure of replying to every single ding that comes across your phone. (bonus points if you remove notifications from your phone altogether.) They are also going to know what to expect as you navigate the working relationship.

When you’re running your business proactively rather than reactively you’re able to focus on the task at hand. You can walk into a session and not worry about other tasks-which means your clients are going to have the very best of you! They are going to be your sole focus. This will allow for a more relaxed session for you and your clients which is going to automatically come across in their images. Which in turn means they are going to be happier with their gallery.

Relaxed session = happy clients = impressive gallery = referral = $$

If you’re a virtual assistant or online business manager, these boundaries are going to make it easier for you to stay within scope. Which is going to translate to you being more profitable. When you stay within scope you’re staying in your zone of genius and allows you to knock it out of the park every time.

Knocking it out of the park = happy client = referral/testimonial = $$

Boundaries are also going to leave room for you to take care of yourself. This is one of, if not the best part, about boundaries. When you limit the hours you’re available, how many sessions or projects you will take in a month, or how many weddings you’ll take in a season, it creates margin. It creates space for sitting down and reading a book. For taking your kid to the zoo. For going on a date night with your husband. For taking that spin class, art class, or riding lessons. It’s giving you life back. We didn’t start our own businesses to not live the life we’re busting our bums to create!

Bonus tip!! If you’re staying booked out and overloaded with work it’s time to raise your prices. Raising your prices will allow you to take less work and make the same amount, or more! Your business needs to be sustainable.

Ready to Create Your Own Boundaries Yet?

I want to make this as easy as I can for you so I’ve created a FREE boundaries worksheet just for you-which you can download here. This will walk you through step-by-step of creating your boundaries. Once it’s all filled out you can use the template I gave you above to create your own expectations guide. Once you have these two templates created and begin enforcing those boundaries you’ll be well on your way to a business that will be more successful for it!