Truth #1: Revenue is good.

Truth #2: Not all revenue is good.

These conflicting truths teach a valuable lesson we must learn if we want to be successful in business. True success doesn’t come from meeting our budget goals — it comes from having enough opportunities to refuse the ones that don’t make sense.

That’s because the goal isn’t just generating revenue. The goal is generating abundance. Here’s what I mean…

What is Abundance?

Abundance is having more opportunities than you need to act upon. No, this isn’t about greedily wanting more business than you can handle. This is about giving yourself the freedom of choice.

When I talk with new clients, we often have this conversation:

They say, “We met our budget! That’s success!”

So I ask, “How much business did you turn away?”

“None.”

“Then you’re not successful yet. You don’t have abundance. You just have enough.”

I’m personally not happy with just “enough”, and you shouldn’t be either. You don’t read my blog, attend Jumpstart workshops, or even hire me so that you can just have enough. What you really want is abundance.

Abundance grants you the freedom to decide which clients are right for you.

• Whose needs best align with your skills?
• What price are they willing to pay?
• Who do you enjoy working with?

An abundance of opportunities gives you the leeway to choose which clients you’d like to work with and still meet your financial goals.

When you can confidently turn away business you don’t need or shouldn’t take, you know you’re successful. And if you’re forced to take all the business that’s presented to you, you’re not there yet.

What Happens Without Abundance?

Without abundance, business is harder. Plain and simple.

When you don’t have more clients, opportunities, and prospects in your pipeline than you know what to do with, you find yourself responding to RFP, selling on margin, taking marginal clients, and working with people you don’t like.

It will beat you down and shatter your confidence, and you won’t have enough money to do what you want.

But your entire business changes with abundance. Obviously, it affects your bottom line, but it also transforms your confidence.

Have you ever asked for 50% more than you thought you could get?

You haven’t done it, have you? Why?

You needed that piece of business so badly that it wasn’t worth asking. You didn’t have abundance. Consequently, your confidence suffered too.

When you know there is plenty of opportunity, your confidence rises. You’re not afraid to ask for more money or set firm boundaries.

Just ask yourself, “What would I do differently if I knew I could oversell my capacity?” If you knew you could afford to lose a customer, would you ask for 10% or 20% more than your regular price to see if you could get it?

When you have abundance, you’ll probably be willing to try.

Where Do We Get “More” From?

Sure, abundance sounds great … but where do we get it?

Abundance comes from marketing.

Marketing, marketing, marketing!

You have to prospect. You have to talk to a lot of people. You have to take the initiative. You can’t just wait for the phone to ring. Success always seems to come back to marketing, and the benefit is abundance.

The conflicting truth stands: Revenue is good, but not all revenue is good.

Make sure you create choices as you build your business for success.

Enough just isn’t enough. Aim for abundance.