Bringing Control Back in Your Practice through Business Development
When you have a practice, you know when everything feels like it’s going right. But even when things are going well, you may also know the feeling that it might all end tomorrow.
This isn’t an unusual feeling, and one of my coaching clients, Amy, found herself in just this position recently. Her practice was going so well – she had a really topical subject matter and she was an engaging, in-demand expert. And this meant that she was speaking more, delivering more and more popular than ever. She was just a couple of years into her practice, but her growth was already explosive.
On paper it was a dream, but when we sat down together, I saw that everything wasn’t as easy as I thought, especially when she said to me, ‘I’m worried it’s all just going to stop.’
Her worry wasn’t because she didn’t see the value in her work, or that she wasn’t good at what she did. Her worry was because she wasn’t in control of her practice and business growth. And because she wasn’t in control, she didn’t really understand how it was happening and she didn’t trust her practice to sustain itself.
It all just felt like luck.
The growth trap
The truth is that when we don’t have control, success can feel like luck. And then the worry is that we won’t be able to replicate that luck, and certainly won’t be able to scale it.
Rapid growth and busyness can be very seductive. It can lure us into believing that being busy equals success. And while this might be true in the short term, busyness without a pipeline is like a boat listing to one side. It might not capsize today, but it’s not going to go the distance.
In the same way, without a pipeline your practice will eventually flounder and fail.
For my client, she was so busy that all her resources were going into answering enquiries and managing delivery. She wasn’t able to complete sales calls, or do any LinkedIn outreach. She wasn’t able to create an overall strategy or make active decisions on the future of her practice. She was just trying to keep on top of her very full schedule and deal with the quiet fear of what would happen when the noise stopped.
This isn’t uncommon. According to McKinsey & Company, high-growth businesses often enter what they call the ‘stall zone’ where their internal operations and forward planning don’t keep pace with demand. Without a strong business strategy, you can’t replicate success and momentum can stall – often abruptly.
Getting the keel balanced again
When we dug deeper in my client’s practice in her business coaching sessions, we uncovered that was really missing – a business development engine that would enable her to trust her practice. When she started focusing on business development, she was able to go from seeing her success as luck, to seeing steps to ensure that the work doesn’t run out in the future.
Focusing on business development gave her – and will give you – confidence that you have leads in your pipeline and that work is coming in the future. You no longer see it as ‘luck’ but as the result of the work that you’re putting in to develop your business overall.
For my client this meant:
● Keeping up with sales calls – even when she was busy.
● Maintaining visibility on LinkedIn and developing a regular outreach process.
● Saying no to underpriced work, even when it flattered the ego.
● And even raising her prices to reflect her real value and protect her time.
The key here is to rebalance the keel. And sometimes that means moving some of your resources and time from delivery to development.
Taking back control
Many thought leaders, experts and leaders treat incoming work as the business itself. But without knowing how to replicate those wins, it feels like luck, rather than strategy. Organisations that lack a proactive development strategy are more likely to see failed leadership, a lack of strategic direction and missed financial opportunities. This is because they’re reacting, not leading.
Oprah Winfrey said, ‘You become what you believe, not what you think or what you want.’ And if you believe your practice is based on luck, you’ll behave accordingly. You’ll over-deliver, under-price and exhaust yourself to please everyone. And you won’t have the confidence that your practice will carry you.
The good news is you can take back control.
Next steps
Start with:
● Metrics. Track your enquiries, conversions and visibility even when you’re at capacity.
● Pricing. Reassess your fees to ensure they reflect sustainability.
● Marketing. Build a rhythm, don’t just react.
● Boundaries. Protect your time to work on strategy, not just service.
If you can do this you’ll move from fearing your luck will run out, to seeing your practice grow into the future.
