Are bigger contracts a bigger headache?

Can taking on larger contracts force you into work you don't enjoy? In this episode of Big Deal Energy, Laura Kalil tackles this pressing concern through a captivating story of one of her clients who transitioned from a $30,000 monthly retainer to feeling adrift. Discover how they identified what she loved versus what she dreaded, utilizing the Elevate Method to secure fulfilling work, ultimately projecting a $50,000 close in Q3. Learn how embracing discomfort and intentional business practices can transform your consulting career and turn uncertainty into a thriving, client-filled schedule.

Laura details the journey of navigating post-contract instability and the importance of leaning into discomfort to create opportunities you truly love. Through actionable advice and real-world examples, you'll uncover strategies to maintain consistency and intentionality in your business. Hear firsthand how her client went from zero clients to a packed schedule of work she’s passionate about. Tune in for an inspiring episode that promises to change how you approach large contracts and consulting work. Don't miss this chance to transform fear into a flourishing consulting career!

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Transcript

Laura Khalil: 0:42

Hey friends, I want to welcome you to this episode of Big Deal Energy. I am your host, laura Kalil, and I'm curious if this question I'm about to ask sounds anything like you. Is there any part of you that believes that if you take on bigger contracts whatever feels really big to you does any part of you feel that then you're going to be forced to do work you don't like? I think this is sort of a subliminal belief, so to speak, that a lot of consultants face is well gosh. Laura, if I take on a really big deal, am I even going to like that work? I wonder if that'll suck.

Laura Khalil: 1:27

Client came to me with this exact issue about four months ago. She'd actually just finished a huge contract we'd helped her get. It was a $30,000 a month retainer. She'd been with this client for months and the contract ended and she wasn't really sure what to do next. Now, in that contract there was a lot of stuff that she did really like doing for that client, but there were also dynamics and things she had to do that really were not so great and she didn't want to do them again. And somewhere inside of herself, I know, there was a belief that in order to make that amount of money. In order to sign a 30K a month retainer, you may have to settle for doing stuff you don't enjoy, right? I totally get it, because, for those of us who have been in corporate roles, more pay and more responsibility can come with a huge headache associated with it. But that's where consulting is different. We get to choose what we do, what we refuse to do and who we do it for.

Laura Khalil: 2:36

Now, most of the time when a large contract ends, it can, truthfully, it can feel very destabilizing. It can feel like oh my God, where's the next deal going to come from? What do I do? I have all this free time on my calendar now that's not filled with this work, and maybe some of that work was kind of stressful. So I'm like oh, where does the stress go? And we could also be scared that like oh no, the money isn't immediately rolling in. So that must mean like I'm scared. And it is in these moments when we truly are the most vulnerable, because the fear that you're experiencing, the discomfort you're experiencing, can really outweigh your better judgment. And if the fear takes hold, what will happen is you're going to start grasping at work that you don't really want to do, because you know you just want to get some money and you'd rather do something than sit with this feeling of discomfort. And so what ends up happening in these scenarios is that this vicious, vicious cycle perpetuates itself and we get stuck doing work we don't like, working for people we don't like, just because we were trying to get something in, and then we don't ever really make the space or time to actually find the bigger deals that we love.

Laura Khalil: 3:59

So she came to me with this and she and I talked regularly and I encouraged her to lean into the discomfort of not having another gig right away. We don't have to throw everything away. We don't have to burn down the building. Instead, what we did was we made a list, and the list had two columns what she loved doing and was good at and what she didn't want to do anymore. Okay, we developed a framework for her to package all the things she loved and she used the elevate method to start going after business intentionally and consistently.

Laura Khalil: 4:35

Well, about three months later consistently and I keep hammering in on consistency here because this is the key consistently, putting into practice what I showed her she and I had a chat and she said Laura, I have so much work that I'm excited to do on my plate. How will I know when I'm booked solid and I can't take on any more clients? Now that is honestly what I call a really good problem to have right, like to be that booked and to now be like, well you know, and to now be like, well you know, when do I tell him? When do I tell him I'm full? She's currently so. I want you to just consider this. In just three to four months, she went from zero in clients to closing 50K in Q3. That's what she is projected to close in Q3. And on that call, I actually showed her how we can turn that into 150K a quarter, working about 25 hours a week as a solopreneur, garnering 100% profitability. It's not a pipe dream. It's an actual, very realistic plan that if she can do it, you can do it too. Very realistic plan that if she can do it, you can do it too.

Laura Khalil: 5:57

So I'm bringing this up to you today for a couple of reasons. The first thing is that I want you to understand that there are going to be times in your business where you feel really, really, really uncomfortable and you're going to have to ask yourself is this short-term discomfort worth the long-term gain? There's a great book by Seth Godin called the Dip. He talks a lot about this and he talks about those moments in business where things can feel really, really hard, and those are, frankly, the moments when most people give up. Right, because it's hard, it's not fun anymore, it feels difficult, it feels arduous, and so we just give up. But if we can get through the dip, if we can stick with it, there are riches that are awaiting you on the other side, and the reason for that is that most people will not stick with it. So the precious few who are able to are truly in a league of their own. So I want you to consider the huge benefit to sticking with things when they get hard.

Laura Khalil: 7:10

The other thing I kind of glossed over but I feel is really important to highlight on is she's doing work she loves today. She's not doing it under the same model as a $30,000 a month retainer, but she's also not working 40 hours a week for one client a month retainer, but she's also not working 40 hours a week for one client. She's actually able to take just what she loves out of that and package that, as we worked on packaging that into a framework and selling that. So now she's working far less but doing only things she likes, and she has the ability now to charge proportionate to that service's value. She now has the ability to scale with that, because when we have something, a productized service that is packaged in that way, we can continue to deliver it more and more easily. We get better and better at the delivery of the product, because it's largely very similar each time with customization for every client. That makes us get better and better at our job. That produces better and better results for the client, which makes you more and more highly referable, right?

Laura Khalil: 8:20

Nobody wants to be in business reinventing the wheel every fucking week, and I see a lot of entrepreneurs sort of especially when things get hard, they just like sort of jump to the next project oh I'm going to try this over there, oh I'm going to try that over there. And so when we sort of are jumping around, we really don't develop any expertise in any particular area and consultants are paid for their expertise. They're not paid for their shiny object syndrome. Jack of all trades will always make less than a true specialist. This is very, very true for you, for those of you who are consultants or boutique agency owners.

Laura Khalil: 8:56

So consider, like, what do I really love doing? What do people really? What do I love doing? What am I actually really good at? What problems do people need solved and what are they willing to pay for? And in the intersection of those four things, you have actual gold, okay. So if you want help with any of that, if you want help productizing your services, if you want help knowing hey, how the hell do you sell a $30,000 a month retainer or a $50,000 project, I would love to help you. A month retainer or a $50,000 project, I would love to help you. You can learn more at bravebydesignnet and until next time, giddy up.