In his book, Book Yourself Solid, Michael Port talks about the value of erecting a ‘velvet rope’ around your business.
The basic idea, which you will have heard before, is to be clear about the kind of people you wish to serve – and equally clear about the opposite.
I learnt this 25 years ago, when a guy I was working with offered to make me a millionaire if I came ‘on-board’ full time.
This wasn’t an idle promise.
The boom was on, and his company had already received serious funding from a dot com group that had floated on the New York Stock Exchange.
But still – at 27 years old – I declined.
Which turned out to be the right decision.
A few years later he was jailed for cheating his taxes.
The obvious truth (from that and plenty of experiences you’ll have had yourself), is that there are people, companies and situations that we don’t want to deal with.
So a ‘velvet rope’ can be a great thing, but not just in the way you might imagine.
In my experience, being explicit about the people we don’t want to serve, is a magnet for those we do.
Here’s the podcast.
https://pod.fo/e/b159c