[#008] The One Reason Why Having Only Two Meetings Changed Everything

This week something strange happened.

I only had two client meetings. Just two.

And instead of feeling guilty or worried about it, I found myself sitting in a café overlooking my favourite lake here in the UK, with complete clarity washing over me about the direction my business was moving in.

For years, I have been running flat out. Back-to-back calls. Juggling agency clients. Racing between strategy sessions. Living in that constant state of "productive panic" that every business owner has somehow convinced themselves is success.

But there I was at the Gateway café in the Cotswolds, notebook open, scribbling thoughts for this week’s newsletter, coffee getting cold, and then realising that having only two meetings wasn't a problem to fix. 

It was the solution I'd been searching for.

Which got me thinking about how backwards we've got everything...

The Hidden Cost of Being "Too Busy to Scale"

Now that I am outside of agency work, I can see the trap that I was in when I was agency side.

Everything that I wanted in terms of my definition of success.

You see, I was trapped in this “Cult of Complexity and Hustle” that is preached at by every bro-marketer most gurus that we all look up to.

My definition of success had become masked by the definition others were putting on me.

“Grow your 7-figure business” and “Make $10m on your next launch”

In reflection sat here now, there are a few things that really held me back more than anything…

Every business owner I talk to says the same thing - "I'm maxed out." "I can't take on more clients without hiring." "I'm already working 60-hour weeks."

Those constraints that I was suffering with were not about time or resources.

They were about model.

It's not just me saying this. In her book "Why Simple Wins: Escape the Complexity Trap and Get to Work That Matters," Lisa Bodell identifies the exact patterns that keep business owners stuck. She says that we've created cultures where complexity is mistaken for value, and where being busy is confused with being productive. Her research shows that most leaders spend their days managing their calendars instead of leading their businesses

When you're a business owner, being a coach, trainer or consultant, trading time for money, you can only ever serve the lucky few who make it onto your calendar.

It doesn't matter how good you are. It doesn't matter how much value you create. It doesn't matter how many people need what you know.

Your impact is capped at the number of hours in your day.

Stupidly I knew this for years. I had read all the books about it, nodded along at conferences when speakers talked about "scaling through systems."

But it wasn't until just now, with only two meetings in my calendar this week, that the real cost hit me.

Not the financial cost. The human cost.

All those business owners I couldn't help because my agency was "full." All those entrepreneurs drowning in complexity because I didn't have space on my calendar. All those people who needed to simplify and scale but couldn't access what I knew because I was stuck in the wrong model.

That's why this pivot from agency owner to coach and consultant isn't just about my business.

It's about the thousands of people I can now serve instead of the dozens.

What Happens When You Stop Adding and Start Subtracting

My pivot started in 2023, but this week it crystallized into something real.

Instead of adding more team members, more services, more complexity to handle more clients, I will continue to subtract.

When planning my content marketing and offers for the next season of campaigns, instead of asking…

"How can I serve more clients?"

I now ask…

"How can I serve more people?"

There is a BIG difference between these two statements.

The agency model says that growth is equal to more account managers, more project managers, more overhead, more chaos. Every new client means more complexity. Every bit of growth makes the machine harder to run.

But the coach and consultant model? That's different.

One framework can help hundreds. One system can transform thousands. One piece of clarity, properly packaged and delivered, can ripple out far beyond what any agency could achieve.

This week, with just two meetings, I had time to think about this properly. Not in the stolen moments between calls. Not in the exhausted brain-fog after a 12-hour day. But with real clarity.

Here's what became obvious...

When you simplify your business model, you don't just simplify your operations.

You amplify your impact.

Think about it.

Right now, there are millions of online business owners, coaches, creators, experts, and authors who are drowning in the same complexity that nearly killed my business three years ago.

They're probably using 50 different tools. Running 15 different funnels. Following 23 different gurus.

And they're exhausted.

The numbers back this up. A report from Siit found that employees lose hours every week just switching between platforms, with many people struggling with what they call "tool overload." The reality is that most businesses are only using a fraction of what they're paying for. See the full impact of report here.

Businesses today, they don’t need more tools and they don't need another agency to manage their chaos.

They need someone to help them eliminate it.

This the calling I am responding to.

Your 90-Day Simplification Challenge

Here's what I'm inviting you to do with me.

Every Sunday, I'm going to send you this newsletter. Not to add to your reading list. Not to give you more theory to consume. But to help you do two things:

Simplify and scale.

That's it. Nothing else.

This week, staring at that lake with unusual clarity, I learned that complexity is a choice.

And it's one we can stop making.

Starting today, take these three steps…

STEP 1 - Audit Your Calendar

Look at next week's calendar. Count the meetings that directly generate revenue or directly serve customers. Everything else? Question it.

STEP 2 - Find Your Two

Identify the two activities that create 80% of your results (yes everyone loves a good 80/20 rule). Not ten. Not five. Two. Write them on a sticky note and put it on your monitor.

STEP 3 - Cancel Something

This week, cancel one recurring commitment that adds complexity without adding value. That weekly "catch-up" that achieves nothing. That community membership you never contribute to. That project that's been "almost done" for months. That software you pay for that never gets used.

Here's what I want you to remember...

This pivot I'm making - from serving dozens as an agency to serving thousands as a coach and consultant - it's not about me building a bigger business.

It's about demonstrating three important things…

1. That you can do more by doing less
2. That simplicity scales better than complexity ever could
3. That the path forward isn't about adding more, but about subtracting everything that doesn't matter

In the end, business is just humans helping humans.

And the simpler we make it, the more humans we can help.

Here's my challenge for you this week…

Find your version of my lake. Block out time in your calendar and sit there for an hour. Grab a notebook and pen and then ask yourself: "What would my business look like if I could only do two things?" – write down all your thoughts.

Then start building that business.

Let me know how it goes. Message me on Instagram @AntHodges or LinkedIn - I reply to every message personally.

Keep it simple, Ant

PS… Grab your copy of “Simplify The Funnel®”  over on Amazon and maybe even the other book I mentioned "Why Simple Wins" by Lisa Bodell - both are essential reading for anyone drowning in complexity.