After releasing an episode on boundary setting, Carly Ries heard the same worry over and over: setting boundaries makes people feel like a jerk. Many solopreneurs assume boundaries mean confrontation, telling a client no, having an awkward conversation, or risking the relationship. In this follow-up episode, Carly and Joe reframe that thinking. Boundaries aren't hostile. They're filters that let the right work through and keep the chaos out.
Most solopreneurs already enforce boundaries without realizing it. You don't answer your phone during a client presentation. You don't work for free. The goal isn't to invent new rules, it's to formalize the assumed ones so clients understand how you operate.
No. Carly explains that around-the-clock availability signals your time isn't valuable and that you have nothing else going on. Clients want reliability and competence, not a desperate "I'm at your service" response. Replying at 11 p.m. on a Saturday sets a precedent you can't sustain.
Often not. Joe shares a story from his fiber optics consulting days when he worked until 1 or 2 a.m. for weeks on an "urgent" project, only to learn two months later the client hadn't even evaluated it. The lesson: urgency is frequently just a client wanting something now so they don't have to worry about it later. Boundaries give you room to ask whether the deadline is real.
Keep it simple and give clients a sense of control. For example: "I check messages between 9 and 5 on weekdays. If something is genuinely urgent after hours, text me and I'll respond within an hour, but please use that for true emergencies only." You can even build a three-strikes rule into your contract for misused emergency lines.
Joe adds a pricing trick: offer a standard plan and a premium plan that costs ten times more for instant, late-night access. Almost no one buys the premium tier, but everyone understands they didn't pay for round-the-clock availability.
Scope creep is when an agreed project quietly expands into far more work than you budgeted. Instead of saying no, say yes with a price: "I can absolutely do that. It's outside the current scope, so let me send a quick estimate to add it on." Calm, professional, no drama.
The best prevention is a statement of work that defines the job, the timeline, and how change orders are priced. When new requests come in, you issue a simple change order, everyone signs, and no one feels taken advantage of.
For budget-conscious clients you value, offer to swap a planned deliverable for the new request to stay in scope, or add it for an extra fee.
Yes. Joe describes firing a client who yelled at one of his team members over something that wasn't their fault. When confronted, the client apologized. The relationship has to be respectful in both directions, and many people back down quickly when you make it clear abusive behavior is unacceptable.
Boundaries won't cost you good clients. They'll reveal which clients were never going to be good ones in the first place. That's not a loss, that's the filter working exactly as designed.
Email Joe at joe@lifestarr.com with "SOW" or "statement of work" in the subject line, and he'll send over an adaptable draft for solopreneurs.
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