Why Every Service-Based Business Needs Non-Negotiables

How establishing clear service boundaries elevates your client experience, strengthens your brand, and helps you deliver your best work

Photo by Angela Knox, The Divine Group

Ever had that client who wanted you to skip a crucial step in your process because "they didn't need it" or "wanted to save money"? And then halfway through the project, things falls apart because - shock and awe - that step was actually essential?

Yeah, I've been there too.

The idea for this BTB issue came to me a few months ago and I actually started writing it late last week, knowing that I wanted to talk about the evolution of a service, as a service-based business owner.

And then I had a website maintenance call yesterday morning with a lovely travel client and she asked a question about her services. She's playing with this idea of an a la carte menu and said something to the effect of, "If they're going to book this service, they also need to book a consultation call. How would I best communicate that on the website?"

We went down a rabbit hole discussion of service non-negotiables and this newsletter idea became fully formed - I just love when the thing that I'm writing about here shows up in the real life work.

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This post is part of the ‘Behind the Business’ series. You can read the rest (plus gain access to the archives) by becoming a paid subscriber. This series is an every-other-week post sharing personal thoughts, comments, strategies and tactics about the ups and downs of building a people-first, service-based business, as a mom and wife.