The beauty of understanding our losses is that you can begin to think about doing the opposite of what you are doing if what you are doing is not working. An issue:

 
Client: “I have a handful of clothes I’ve altered for customers whom I haven’t seen in several years.  “I’ll just have to throw them away.”
 
Sarah: Is this suit one of them?
 
Client: “Yes.”
 
Sarah: It’s beautiful. How long did it take you to make it?
 
Client: “It was a complicated order with a lot of pockets. About five days.”
 
Sarah: How much does the customer owe you for it?
 
Client: “About $350 including the cost of the fabric and the supplies.”
 
[Silence]
 
[Thinking….]
 
Sarah: This isn’t working for you, is it? May I run a suggestion by you? You may have already thought of it. Have you considered asking your customers to put 50 percent down when they place the order? What other ideas do you think might work?
 
Even if the issue feels like a small puncture wound. Even if it is not bleeding. Even if it feels like it’s not a big deal.
 
Pay. Attention.
 
It is a big deal. It can get infected and spread — disrupt your business —  if you don’t tend to it.

 

Do the opposite of what’s not working. Experiment to see what works.