This is my take on the value of customers and why fewer is better for my hobby turned supplement for my retirement income.

A long time ago, in a career far, far behind… not so far behind me that I can’t remember a few key points. Well, I’ve learned a few things in my career.

Let me share an idea that changed the way I think about business: They say, only a small group of customers actually make the business money. The other customers don’t add much to the bottom line, and some customers might even cost the company more than they bring in.

This idea, which you might know as the Pareto Principle, really affects how businesses choose who to focus on. The idea is to spend most of your time on the best 20% of customers and serve the 80% minimally. I’ve been deemed part of the 80% a few times. Hello long wait times. I’ve also been chosen as one of the valued 20%. Thank you very much!

Why is this important to me?

I Need Profitable Customers

When I decided to offer quilting services, I knew there would be a limit to the number of quilts I can complete in a day, week, or month. Actually, I’m retired and enjoying my hobby. There’s no empire or conglomerate growing in my yard.

How many customers do I truly need to accomplish my goal. Not that many good customers. Fewer, if they are great customers. I expect only a handful of people to provide the income supplement that I hope to achieve. Too many customers, especially the ones who will never be happy with me, could destroy my ability to provide custom quilt services to people who love that I’m available to help.

When I take on a project, I do my best. When I try to learn, I get better. Great and good customers support my positive momentum and inspire me to stretch my skills and share the love and happiness of success with each new step. Negativity destroys my happiness and desire to go forward.

In my retirement, I’ve decided to be happy as much as possible. Sharing my hobby with others doesn’t mean that I’m willing to entertain other options.

How am I going to determine the right customers for me and how many can I realistically serve with custom quilting?

Only 5 Customers For Me

To begin my journey, I’ll aim for 5 customers only.

• Buying Habits: The profitable customers are the ones who buy often and in big amounts. I want to learn their preferences and make sure I hit the mark.
• What They Buy: The best customers aren’t looking for a bargain as much as a solution. I’m offering custom work, not junk on a clearance table.
• Cost to Serve: Some people need extra help, special delivery, or have complicated orders. I need the bandwidth to do this.
• How They Pay: If someone chooses not to pay after I do the custom work, it’s going to be a big percentage of what I make. Ouch.
• Complaints: We’re partners working on a collaborative project. Information about desirable outcomes on my work helps me improve.

Add it all up, and you can see why fewer customers is my preference, especially in the early days of growing into my hobby biz. Who needs more customers when the right customer makes it easy to enjoy life. These people are friends or will be.

Finding And Keeping The Perfect Customers

If only a few customers are super-profitable, then it makes sense to rethink how I allow people to become my customer. Here’s my approach:

• Segment the Customers: Keep track of the people who make me smile when I think of doing work for them.
• Focus Your Efforts: Learn how to please my very best customers—they’re paying the bills.
• Customize Where It Counts: Discover the extra perks that make my work really shine through for each individual customer instead of treating them all alike.
• Consider Your Prices: My prices are going to reflect the value that I provide and how much I value my customer. We need each other. We’re both valuable.
• Don’t Be Afraid to Let Go: Sometimes, it’s not a good fit. We can still like each other as friends and play in the same hobby groups. Let’s have fun!

Watch Out! It’s Not That Simple

But hold on—it’s not always as clean-cut as it sounds to know what customer to love. There are plenty of things that make this trickier:

• Figuring Out Costs is Hard: Allocating costs down to the individual customer can get complicated, especially if nobody tracks the numbers.
• Think Long-Term: A great customer doesn’t walk in the door. They’re molded into one over time. Lifetime value matters!
• Spillover Effects: Some people bring friends. I can make room for a happy customer praising my work.
• Brand Reputation: Even tiny little income producers from hobbies face obstacles that require tact and communication skills along the way.
• Fairness and Ethics: It’s worth saying that I’ll aim to do the right thing, however, I don’t feel any responsibility to serve every possible customer. There’s plenty of alternatives.

Most of the time, I believe in focusing on the job at hand. Do whatever I’m working on whether that is crunching numbers, meeting people, doing the custom work, or delivering a completed project with the right effort.

The Future Looks Great

Not all customers are equally valuable in terms of cash flow, and it makes sense put my resources where they’ll make the biggest difference. But, I know the value of long-term relationships and reputation. l also know that human beings are unpredictable.

My hobby is where I meet people and enjoy their company. This is about my hobby providing me with a supplemental income in retirement and loving the life I live. If I want to give somebody custom quilting just because, I will.

The bottom line for me is to be who I strive to be as often as possible and treat people with decency and respect, even if they’ll never be a customer.