3d • General Discussion 💬
Rejected 73 Prospects Year One - Built Business on the 10% 😱
Said yes to everyone year one. Any industry. Any problem. Any budget.
Result: $27,600 revenue, burned out by month 6.
Year two: Rejected 73 prospects. Focused on 10%. Revenue: $51,200.
THE MISTAKE EVERYONE MAKES:
Desperate for revenue. Said yes to everything:
- Podcast workflow automation
- Social media scheduling
- E-commerce inventory
- Newsletter tools
- CRM setup
- Random Zapier requests
11 different industries. 23 clients. Generic solutions. Price competition. Constant context switching.
THE MOMENT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING:
Tuesday morning. Email: "Can you automate our podcast editing workflow?"
Me internally: "I have zero experience with podcast production."
Me externally: "Sure, I can figure it out."
Spent 40 hours learning podcast tools.
Built mediocre automation.
Made $800.
Got zero referrals (wasn't actually an expert).
Same week: Turned down invoice processing inquiry. "Too busy with podcast project."
That invoice inquiry went to competitor. Became $18,000 annual contract.
I chose $800 podcast project over $18,000 invoice contract because I couldn't say no.
THE NEW CRITERIA:
I ONLY say yes to:
- Document-heavy workflows (my actual expertise)
- Recurring monthly volume (ongoing revenue, not one-time projects)
- Industries with tight networks (healthcare, legal, accounting, real estate)
- Budgets over $3,000 setup (serious buyers, not tire-kickers)
Everything else: Polite decline + referral to better-fit consultant.
THE RESULTS:
YEAR 1 (saying yes to everything):
- Clients: 23
- Average project value: $1,200
- Industries: 11 different
- Referrals generated: 3 total
- Revenue: $27,600
- Mental state: Burned out
YEAR 2 (rejecting 90%):
- Clients: 8
- Average project value: $6,400
- Industries: 3 focused (healthcare, legal, real estate)
- Referrals generated: 19 total
- Revenue: $51,200
- Mental state: Sustainable
WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I SPECIALIZED:
Referrals exploded:
- Healthcare attorney → referred 3 other healthcare attorneys
- Accounting firm → referred 4 other accounting firms
- Real estate company → referred 2 other property managers
Pricing increased:
- Expert premium vs generalist commodity
- "The document automation specialist" vs "automation guy"
Sales cycle shortened:
- Spoke their industry language
- Understood their specific pain
- Had relevant case studies
Solution quality improved:
- Deep domain knowledge
- Reusable components across similar clients
- Pattern recognition from repetition
THE COMPOUND EFFECT:
Specialist gets referrals. Generalist gets price-shopped.
Focused expertise creates referral engines. My healthcare clients ONLY refer other healthcare clients.
CURRENT OPERATION:
- Industries: 3 (healthcare, legal, real estate)
- Active clients: 11
- Average annual client value: $8,200
- Referral rate: 1.7 new referrals per happy client
- Close rate on referrals: 78%
THE DECLINE SCRIPT:
"Thanks for reaching out. This isn't my area of expertise - I focus specifically on document automation for [healthcare/legal/real estate]. But I know someone perfect for your needs. Let me connect you."
95% appreciate the referral.
Several became referral sources later.
What 90% of prospects do you need to say NO to so you can focus on your 10%?
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Rejected 73 Prospects Year One - Built Business on the 10% 😱
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