r/Entrepreneur • u/ZealousidealBank8484 • 19h ago
Mindset & Productivity Y'all feel like you don't make progress fast enough?
This is a real "am I the only one who" ass type question but idk, I guess I'm just wondering how y'all cope with it.
I've been working on my business for awhile now. Pretty much since last year.
I don't want to give y'all my entire story but basically, my only client un-subscribed today. I'm kinda grateful because he was a PITA client (finishing him up certainly taught me lessons about ever working with someone like him again) yet also frustrated because I'd worked so hard to satisfy him in the first place. He literally would've been charged in just 3 days, which would've been a decent amount of money for me.
Prior to that, I had an employee this month I had to let go. He was a sales rep, a great one too, but unfortunately outside forces came and ruined his communication, and at that point began eating my finances having him on board only for him to not show up.
My new sales rep is great. But we 2 of our 6 appointments didn't happen this week, and while some agreed to the follow up appointment, some decided they weren't interested.
I really, sincerely feel like I should have not just one, but several clients by now. Yet somehow there's always just one little adjustment that has to be made, and it's always "alright, next week for sure".
How do y'all handle that?
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u/Exotic_Barber_3092 18h ago
It's the "alright next week for sure" trap, I know that one too well
What helped me was splitting progress into two buckets. One bucket is the stuff I control, like how many calls I made or how many proposals went out. The other bucket is everything else, client decisions, timing, random chaos. I only let myself stress about the first bucket. The rest is just noise you can't steer anyway so it's wasted worry
Also losing a PITA client hurts the bank but it's a net win for your sanity, you'll look back in six months and be glad they're gone
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u/ZealousidealBank8484 18h ago
Trust me already feeling a bit of relief on the PITA client. I've done work for him in the past but now I feel like next time he asks i'll be a lot more comfortable saying no.
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u/JayceeBarry3888 14h ago
This is one of the hardest parts of running a business. I can do a lot of things right and still have a week where everything seems to fall apart at once. Right now I focus on small wins.
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u/Odd_Awareness_6935 Bootstrapper 18h ago
Try different distribution channels, YT/Tiktok/Instagram influencer marketing is a very positive ROI if you have the budget
on the outreach itself, I'd say if your business is not at the scale phase, let go of your sales and do all the sales yourself; getting feedback from people at the frontier of the sales interactions is more valuable
you should only ever consider throwing in the towel (if ever) once you've exhausted all your experiments, ensuring that you've done everything you could and nothing worked
I'm also personally at the pre-scale phase, currently trying multiple channels at the same time to see which one brings more juice; some stronger than others, none yet strong enough to make it stick
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u/ZealousidealBank8484 18h ago
I did post to YT/TikTok/IG for awhile, eventually stopped because every week I was basically telling my audience "hey guys, nothing new to report this week!"
I had been keeping them engaged mostly through AI slop to begin with tbh -- but even then, Sora's guardrails prevented anything truly interesting a lot of the time, and it was tasking trying to create something that actually passed the filter and looked good.
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u/PeaceOfZen 18h ago
Honestly I think this is the hardest part of building a business. You can do everything right and still feel like you're going nowhere. Just remember that progress isn't always immediate. Keep going but make sure you're learning from each setback rather than just repeating the same cycle. I'd focus on figuring out why those appointments aren't converting and tightening up the sales process. Good luck!
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u/Clean_Candidate_5496 15h ago
having one client be all the income is what makes a week like this feel so bad. losing him stings but it also means the next client you land doesn't have to carry everything
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u/BrightstillBuilds 12h ago
Every day. I work overnights and build on the side, and some weeks the only progress is one email sent. What keeps me sane is measuring against where I was a month ago, not where I think I should be. Losing your only client sucks, but you landed one before, which means you can do it again. Slow progress is still progress.
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u/ZealousidealBank8484 5h ago
i do the same thing, always measuring myself from where I was compared to last month.
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u/Elijah_5879 11h ago
yup it's pretty relatable I think part of running a business is learning that progress doesn't always happen as fast as we expect fr
uhmm losing clients and dealin with setbacks is frustrating especially when you've put in good work. But sometimes you gotta look at what ain't working, make the changes, and keep going. wish you success mate
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u/Klutzy-Sea-4857 9h ago
Welcome to the entrepreneurial journey. Every founder goes through this phase. The grind can feel longer than expected, but one day it all clicks. Keep pushing forward, review what is not working, and adjust quickly.
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u/Total-Reasonable 7h ago
Treat each failure as a process bug, not a verdict on the business. Write down why the client churned, why the rep became unavailable, and where each appointment dropped, then add one concrete guardrail for each: upfront qualification, a backup coverage plan, or a confirmation step. That turns "next week" into a system that gets slightly less fragile every cycle.
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u/RaileonAi 7h ago
Losing a client right before billing stings, but a PITA client leaving is usually cheaper than keeping him. You do not need to automate anything yet. With one client and two missed appointments, your problem is the sales follow-up, not software. One concrete thing: track every appointment that no-shows or says no, and call them back within 24 hours yourself. That call is where the next client comes from.
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u/andrewmassey00 5h ago
losing your only client hurts but it's also freeing. now's a good time to go after the kind of client you actually want
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u/Falker_The 18h ago
This is insightful, but perhaps not in the way you intend.
You didn’t ask for advice, and I have questions if you do.
To answer your question, yes. It does often feel slow, but I don’t think you’re anywhere close to that point yet if you’ve been at it for about 1 year.
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u/BagAdministrative330 17h ago
Track the appointments that actually happen instead of the pipeline you hope for. When two of six do not show, a reminder the day before and a quick follow up the same day will tell you more about your real progress than revenue alone.
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u/Commercial_Trust_464 14h ago
youre a year in, you had one client, and you already got a sales guy on payroll eating your finances, and now a second one and six appointments a week? thats not slow progress thats a cost base sprinting ahead of revenue. the client unsubbing 3 days before the charge is just your billing date being dumb luck, charge upfront or take 50% deposit and that particular gut punch stops existing. honestly if he was that much of a PITA you lost nothing, you lost a headache and a check. and the two appointments that fell through out of six, some agreeing to a follow up and then losing interest, thats just what a pipeline looks like when its too thin, its not a sign of anything except that you need more of them. id sort the rep thing first before you go get more clients to feed it
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u/Adnan_AI_Consultant 13h ago
The two no-shows out of six is the part I'd look at first, because that's fixable this week. When someone books, have your rep send a quick personal text the same day, then another the morning of, something like "still good for 2pm? just reply here if anything changed". A lot of people ghost because the call felt like it was booked with a stranger, not because they lost interest.
Also check how fast new leads get a reply when they first reach out. If it's hours, some of the "not interested" ones were already cold before the call. Losing your only client stings, but you have an actual pipeline now, which you didn't have last year.
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u/Easy_Rich7693 13h ago
You’re never the only one. Everyone runs their own race. Whether in business or general life. Comparison is the thief of joy ;). Another business in your shoes would have 5 clients. Another wouldn’t have had any and folded. Every story is different and you’re the only thing that can make a difference. You’ve had a client, you’ll get one again just keep it going!
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u/bluekmg 6h ago
I think you need to go back and do more research to determine who your target client is. When you originally built your business, what sort of customer did you design it for? Go where they are. And are you sure your product/service is something that is wanted or needed? Maybe not.
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u/ZealousidealBank8484 5h ago
it was originally designed for insurance agents. it's an AI follow up system. however, now that my only client is gone i'm thinking we may broaden our horizons and see what naturally fits.
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u/ComparisonTop8547 5h ago
Losing your only client and a rep in the same month would rattle anyone. A few things that helped me:
Track the leading numbers every week. Conversations started, calls held, proposals sent. Revenue lags those by weeks, so if you only judge yourself on revenue it feels like zero progress even when the pipeline is moving.
For no-shows, send a short confirm the day before with one reason the call is worth their time, and book the next step before you hang up while they're still warm.
And one client is a risk on its own. Two or three small ones beat one big painful one, because losing any single one doesn't reset you to zero.
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u/KommodoAI 4h ago
Losing your only client can be a relief and still hurt financially. You don’t have to pick one feeling.
The “next week for sure” part sounds exhausting because you’re counting on a result you can influence but can’t control. I’d give yourself something more concrete to review: how many appointments actually happened, why people declined, and whether anyone wanted the offer at the price you need to charge. Then you can make a specific adjustment instead of putting another week’s hope into “surely this time.”
I’d also take a hard look at the cost of having a sales rep while you have no clients. Can you handle sales yourself for a bit? Hearing objections firsthand might be useful right now, and reducing expenses could take some pressure off.
You put a lot of work into that client. It makes sense that losing the renewal stings, even if you wouldn’t want another client like him.
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