Nothing Was Wrong. I Still Needed to Make a Change.

What a four-year vendor decision taught me about energy leaks, trusting my judgment, and choosing what supports the business I am building.

Nothing was technically wrong.

We had been working with the same vendor for nearly four years. The work was getting done. In fact, I started with one package and eventually moved into a larger one because we continued feeding them more work.

It was fine.

But it was not exceptional.

And at Holloway Media Services, I want us to be exceptional.

Every time we send a piece of content to a client, I am aiming for the five-star review. I want them to open it and immediately see themselves, their business, and the message they were trying to communicate. I want the work to feel inspired, thoughtful, polished, creative, strategic, and unmistakably theirs.

With this vendor, we were receiving fours.

That is certainly not a failure. Plenty of people would have accepted it, especially when the work was being completed and there was no dramatic problem demanding immediate attention.

But my spidey sense would not let it go…

The Little Ping in the Back of My Mind

I kept seeing content online that our team was not producing.

I knew the quality could be stronger. And let me use a word I don’t often use: it should have been stronger.

We provided detailed direction. We gathered the assets. We explained the intention. We completed nearly all of the critical thinking required to bring the content to life.

We did everything but create the final product ourselves.

That was the problem.

The critical thinking was part of what I believed I was outsourcing. I did not simply need someone to complete a task after we had already solved every challenge. I needed a creative partner who could take what we provided, think alongside us, and elevate the work beyond where it began.

Instead, the work stayed at the same level.

It was usable. It got the job done. It checked the box.

But it did not grow.

For years, I had this quiet ping in the back of my head telling me to investigate another vendor that had been sitting in my peripheral. I would think about reaching out, consider making the change, and then find another reason to remain exactly where we were.

Why Did It Take Me Four Years?

First, changing vendors was going to cost more money.

There was no way around that. Moving to the new provider meant increasing our investment, and every small business owner knows that even a wise expense still has to fit into a very real budget.

It was also going to cost us time.

As much as I wanted the transition to be smooth, I knew there would be a little turbulence as we moved from one supplier to another. New systems would need to be learned. Expectations would have to be communicated. Workflows would shift. There would be a period when everyone was getting comfortable before we could get the plane completely off the ground.

Then came the question that I suspect many business owners ask when something feels slightly off:

Is it me?

Were my expectations too high? Was I being too particular? Was I searching for a level of quality that was unrealistic?

Eventually, I had to get honest with myself.

No.

When I invest in something, I want it to be completed at the highest possible quality. I ask that of myself, and I want it for my clients. The people who trust Holloway Media Services with their brands deserve work that reflects the quality of their organizations and the importance of what they are trying to accomplish.

Wanting excellence was not the problem.

The problem was that I had grown accustomed to pouring my own energy into the gap between what we were receiving and what I knew the work could become.

A Comfortable Risk Changed Everything

Finally, an opportunity came along that allowed us to test the new vendor without immediately making a complete commitment.

It gave me a comfortable risk to take.

And I am so glad I took it.

We now have a partner who helps keep us on task. They ask us for more work!! They follow up. They are holding us accountable for giving them what they need to perform at their highest and best–which is a great and beautiful thing!

They want to stay with us, and they are actively earning our business. They hold themselves to a high standard of quality work and hold themselves accountable for bringing that work to life.

The communication floodgates have opened. We are talking regularly, which means we can get ahead of challenges, answer questions quickly, and keep projects flowing.

For the first time, I can see opportunities to scale this part of the business. I can imagine what becomes possible when we are not trying to drag a system forward through grit and determination.

I can also see the relief in my team.

Amy, Jacque, Joe, and I no longer have to carry so much on our shoulders. We have the assistance we thought we were outsourcing all along.

The new partnership has taken a collection of little pesky tasks off our plates. None of those tasks seemed enormous by themselves, but together they were consuming time, attention, and creative energy.

Now, my team has more breathing room for the work they do best.

Strategy.

Creativity.

Production.

Writing.

We did not simply find a new vendor. We plugged an energy leak.

Energy Leaks Don’t Always Look Like Emergencies

That is the lesson I nearly missed.

An energy leak isn’t always a crisis. Sometimes it’s something that technically works, but only because you keep pouring yourself into the gaps.

It may not be actively harming your business. It may not be causing client complaints or keeping you awake every night. It might simply require more checking, explaining, correcting, managing, or compensating than it should.

Over time, that additional effort becomes normal.

You adapt to the inefficiency. Your team builds workarounds. You quietly lower your expectations. You continue investing your time and energy because changing the situation feels more disruptive than tolerating it.

Then one day, you experience what a better solution feels like, and suddenly you can see exactly how much the old one had been costing you.

Where Is Your Business Leaking Energy?

Maybe it’s a vendor.

Maybe it’s a team relationship that requires everyone else to absorb the unfinished work.

Maybe it’s a client relationship. Toxic clients do exist, and you are allowed to fire them.

Maybe it’s a piece of software that is a complete pain in the ass but remains part of your process because everyone already knows how to use it.

Maybe your approval process has too many steps, too many opinions, or too many opportunities for a project to stall.

Maybe you have too many meetings.

Maybe you are continuing to offer work you no longer enjoy because you need money coming through the door (totally get it, been there myself).

Maybe it’s a task you keep doing even though you no longer need to be the person responsible for it.

Maybe your systems were built for an earlier version of your company and can no longer support the business you are becoming.

This is where business owners have to pause long enough to examine the operations, marketing, and finances of the company.

What is consuming more energy than it deserves?

What are you continuing to manage simply because you have always managed it?

What appears to be functioning, but only because you or someone on your team keeps rescuing it?

You Can Choose Better

You are the owner.

You are in control of all of it.

That is the good news and the bad news.

The decisions ultimately belong to you, but that does not mean you have to make them in isolation. There are other business owners (hi!), colleagues, mentors, and friends in your network who can share recommendations and help you see options you may not have considered.

There are also more tools available than ever before, including affordable solutions that can help you automate repetitive tasks, strengthen your systems, and close gaps that drain your capacity.

You don’t need a disaster to justify a change.

You don’t need someone else to be completely wrong before you are allowed to choose something that is more right for you.

The previous decision may have been exactly what your business needed at the time. It may have served you well for a season AND you are still allowed to acknowledge that you have outgrown it.

Nothing was technically wrong with our previous arrangement but I still needed to make a change. Now that I can see what a true partnership makes possible, I am grateful that I finally trusted the little ping that had been trying to get my attention for four years.

Your spidey sense may already be telling you where the energy leak is.

The question is whether you are willing to listen.

August PowerLine

(Each month, we’ll share a Powerline: a punchy phrase to steady your energy, lock in your confidence, and help you lead online and off.)

I trust what I know, release what must go, and make room for my business to grow.