ADHD Entrepreneur: Strategies to Getting Paid Faster and Building a Consistent, Sustainable Income
One of the biggest challenges for service-based entrepreneurs, especially those with ADHD, is managing inconsistent income. You're raking it in one month, and the next, you're wondering how to cover expenses. You know as a financial coach with ADHD I have a system that will help you with your variable income, but it’s also a good idea to work on building consistent recurring monthly income. This can help you, but also help you serve your clients at a much higher level! When you build services that create consistent income into your business, you also want to create automation to collect that income!
Before I jump into how to do both of those things, I want to share something that a previous coach shared with me that helped me welcome more clients into my business and decrease my anxiety around the process. This may be old news for you, but at the time, it was a huge a-ha moment for me. The shift she challenged me to make was to start booking and collecting payment for new clients on our free consultation when a new client was ready to move forward. Before that, I was sending a follow-up email and hoping they wouldn’t get nervous about making changes with their money! That led to many individuals getting cold feet, which sucks as far as growing my business, but it sucked even more for the potential client that was READY to move forward in the moment but never did because they had time to overthink things!
Build Recurring Revenue into Your Business
One way to stabilize your income is by adding services that are ongoing with a monthly payment into your business. There are a lot of different ways to do this, and as an entrepreneur with ADHD you probably have a long list of ideas but I’ll share a few ideas how you can do that:
Offer Retainer Packages: Retainer agreements are ideal for clients who need consistent support. For example, a social media manager could offer a monthly retainer for ongoing content creation. Package your services to benefit both you and your client.
Create Subscription Services: If your expertise allows, create a subscription model to access ongoing services or resources. For instance, as a financial coach, I offer monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual coaching packages that allow my clients to adjust the level of support they need but still have regular meetings and the opportunity to communicate between sessions.
Break Big Projects into Monthly Payments: For larger projects, structure payments into smaller, recurring amounts. This benefits the client by spreading out costs and provides you with a steady income over the time of the project.
Upsell Maintenance Plans: After completing a project, offer clients a monthly maintenance or support package. For example, if you build websites, you could offer ongoing updates and hosting services.
Strategies for Consistent Revenue
There also are other ways to make your income more predictable:
Diversify Your Income Streams: Don’t rely on just one type of service. Offer a mix of one-off services, packages, and recurring options to create a more balanced income.
Use Contracts to Define Payment Terms: Always have a contract that clearly outlines payment terms. Specify deadlines, late fees, and expectations upfront. Contracts protect you and ensure clients understand their obligations.
Schedule Your Marketing Efforts: Consistency in marketing can lead to consistency in revenue. I know this is heartbreaking news but setting a weekly or monthly schedule for networking, posting on social media, or emailing your list to keep new leads coming in. Personally, setting things up to take action and track those action weekly has been the best for me. It allows me to see what’s on my list for the week clearly, leaves less opportunity to procrastinate, but also gives me a fresh start the following week if the wheels fall off this week.
Automate Your Payments to Get Paid on Time
Automation isn’t just a time-saver—it’s an ADHD-friendly way to ensure you don’t lose track of invoices or payments. It also makes things easier for your clients. Here are some ways to set up automated systems that work:
Use Recurring Invoices: If you offer monthly services, set up recurring invoices through platforms like QuickBooks, Wave, or PayPal. These tools can send invoices automatically on a set schedule, so you don’t have to remember to do it manually.
Take Your Recurring Payments a Step Further: Check with your payment processing software to see if you can set the monthly payment up to process each month automatically. I do this with my clients via QuickBooks sales receipts. If you go this route, it’s important to make sure you have the appropriate paperwork signed by your client but it makes things so much easier for both of you. Imagine getting an email about an upcoming deposit that you did zero work to make happen that month!
Make Your Invoices Easy for Your Clients to Pay: Include a "Pay Now" button in your invoices with options like credit cards, ACH transfers, or PayPal. The easier clients pay, the faster you’ll see the money in your account.
Set Up Automatic Payment Reminders: Use software that sends polite reminders for unpaid invoices. Sometimes, clients genuinely forget (especially if they are also amazing ADHDers), and a nudge can help them act quickly.
Add Options to Pay Upfront: For ongoing services, consider offering a small discount to clients who pay upfront for a specific chunk of time. I offer pay-in-full discounts for my longer-term coaching packages. This helps my clients save a little money and means that I don’t have any more admin work to collect future payments.
Building a sustainable income for your service-based business doesn’t have to be overwhelming. You can take the guesswork out of getting paid by automating your payments, incorporating recurring revenue streams, and creating a seamless client experience. With consistent cash flow, you’ll have the stability to focus on growing your business and serving your clients.
Remember, the goal isn’t just to work harder—it’s to work smarter and set up systems that do the heavy lifting for you. If you love the idea of implementing things like this in your business but don’t know where to start or what to do with the money once it hits your account to build a solid system for consistently paying yourself, let’s connect! This is a no-pressure, free consultation to see if we are a good fit and discuss the next steps if we are!
