I had a thought today about the issue of "quality vs quantity".

I have been in the workforce for many years. I have never been a person of speed, that is to say I am not a lazy person, just have a "stride" of my own.
When I do learn something, it is like breathing, it flows like it is natural for me to do.

I am a hands on learner and learn best with repetition. I can't tell you how many positions I have held over the years that one of the issues in my review was "needing to be quicker", time management.....gawd! the dreaded "time studies"!!

However, it never kept me from getting rave reviews in other areas and getting raises. When I moved out of state, I entered a virgin territory here in Alaska. Laid back, that pretty much describes it. I don't know if that is location driven or not, in my case, it appears so, with one exception, the local hospital....too much politics, nuff said...lol.

My present part time job that I have had for the past three years has been totally opposite. My boss prefers quality, not quantity. This has been different for me and taken some time to adjust to that attitude, but very welcomed.

In my home business, my one client that I keep books for, has basicly the same attitude, does not expect everything "yesterday".

I have been fortunate to find these two entities that blend with my personality. This is the type of clients I hope to extend my services to as I expand my home business into the virtual world. I know they are out there somewhere.

It would be interesting to see how others have dealt with this issue and some suggestions on how to market yourself as being competent, but not "fast paced"...dislike seeing those two words

Part of what we 'sell' our clients is a quick turnaround time. We note that we need a 48 hour window for most projects (obviously more detailed requests can take much longer) but we always strive to turn things around as quickly as possible, more often within 24 hours - there isn't a sacrifice of 'quality' there, it's just a matter of good time management and doing our best to keep the client happy.

That's not to say we churn out work - but one of the things our clients rave about is how quickly they get results, for us, this is an important asset to our business philosophy.

I guess what I'm saying is I don't think it should necessarily be one (quick turnaround) without the other (quality product).

Certainly as a business owner you can pursue clients with a more 'laid back' approach to business but I have yet to run across a client who isn't exceptionally grateful to see that we're truly taking their success and best interest to heart.

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I agree with what Tess said. But I do know what you mean about a more laid back way of being in Alaska having lived there myself. What is it they say....that Alaska is mostly people who just don't fit "in" in the lower 48. That is, they just don't live their life in the same fast forward fashion that most of the US does. That being said, though, if you were staying in Alaska, then perhaps your preferred way of working and your clients would all mesh together quite well. Since you are planning on moving to another place, then there's the possibility that you might have to work on accommodating a "faster" way of doing business.

The beauty of being your own boss and having your own business is that you get to choose who you work with and perhaps you consider taking mostly clients that fit well with your work style and only take on one or two clients at a time who have a bit more urgency in their turn around time.

I think another way of letting clients know that you are competent at what you do and that you want to help them with the success of their business, is to stay in contact with them consistently. Like, sending them an update at least once a day (or a whatever interval is appropriate) and let them know of the progress you've made on their project(s).

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Kimberly
Facebook Marketing Magic!

I agree with you both. Being my own boss is one thing that drives me to accomplish my goal of this venture, along with having the ability to "choose" who I desire to work with.

I realize the importance of a quick turnaround, that is another benefit of being your own boss, you get to choose not being "required" to do a hundred things at one time, like a lot of employers expect out of their employees. Therefore, I can devote my time to each client according to their needs without overloading myself, and giving them my best. The success of their business will be a priority.

Thank you both for your feedback!