Tired of the never-ending back and forth?

Ever found yourself stuck in a back-and-forth loop, trying to finalize a decision but never quite getting there? That was me two weeks ago.

For three months, I found myself in an endless cycle of "What do you think?" and "What about this?" with someone. Each time I thought we’d landed on a decision, they’d introduce a new element, and we’d start over.

By month two, I was irritated, exhausted, and avoiding their messages. It wasn’t good. Not for the decision we needed to make and certainly not for my peace of mind.

Then my fiancé dropped the truth bomb I needed:

“Chanel, you are both wasting time when you keep asking each other what to do instead of deciding and saying, ‘This is the path forward.’”

The Flamingo Spotlight

That experience reminded me of something many service-based entrepreneurs struggle with: scope creep. But in this case, it was something more sinister masquerading as scope creep—it was scope absence.

Let me break it down:

When you’ve built a reputation for going above and beyond and delivering excellence, the boundaries between delivering value and overextending yourself to make others happy can blur fast.

But when you don’t set clear scopes or expectations for your projects, here’s what happens:

🧑‍🚒Your Team Gets Overwhelmed
Without clarity on deliverables, deadlines, or priorities, your team spends more time spinning their wheels than delivering results. They’re unsure where to focus their energy and often fall short of meeting client needs and your expectations—or worse, miss deadlines entirely.

🧑‍🚒Your Clients Run the Show
Scope absence or a badly defined scope means clients feel like everything is negotiable. They’ll ask for new deliverables, add elements outside of the original agreement, or keep you in an endless loop of feedback and revisions.

🧑‍🚒You Burn Out
As someone who love people, your default reaction might be to say yes to everything, even when it’s not feasible. You overextend yourself, trying to protect client relationships, while your own business and vision take a backseat.

🧑‍🚒Your Strategic Work Falls Behind
Time you should spend on growing your business—streamlining processes, improving client experiences, or working on new initiatives—gets swallowed up by firefighting and endless project revisions. I cannot tell you how many of our clients admit that they don’t have the space to do sales because they spend so much time in the firefighting weeds of client delivery!

Here’s the hard truth: Scope absence doesn’t just hurt your clients or team. It holds your business back. When there’s no “definition of done,” every request feels like it has to be met, and every “no” feels like a failure. For business owners who love people, it’s an emotional and operational trap—one that drains your energy, peace, and ability to lead.

The Flamingo Fix

If you’ve ever been in this situation, here’s how to fix it:

🦩 Step 1: Set the Scope of Activities Before You Start

Get clear on what success looks like from the beginning. What do your clients get at the end? Is it a report? How detailed? Is it their financial books updated? Which ones? Is it a website? How many pages?

Then define the 3D client journey to achieve success. Look at the path to results through the eyes of the three humans in the process: you, your team and your clients! Establish deliverables, actions to be taken, deadlines, what “done” means, who does what, etc.

Be as specific as possible to leave no room for endless rehashing. This specificity positions you to enforce the right boundaries and effect the right consequences at the right time!

🦩 Step 2: Set and Communicate People-Focused Boundaries

Think of boundaries like sandbars—they protect everyone involved. You and your clients are humans so account for the “humanness of humans” as you work together. Think through common scenarios that tend to crop up as you and your clients work together. Then define your expectations (business standards) for each scenario. For example: what’s your standard as it relates to “a client adding a new request to the project” OR “you and your clients failing to meet set deadlines”?

Boundary-setting does not stop there! A boundary is just a suggestion if it has no consequences. When I examined why I felt it was unfair to uphold my boundary, I realized the truth of this statement: “Boundaries are hard to uphold when they feel unfair to enforce. They are even harder to uphold when they were never set.”

You’ll turn your client/team member into the “enemy” or treat each client differently or struggle with feelings of “not being fair” or worse avoid having the necessary conversations when you don’t have clear consequences for “remaining within the scope” or “setting outside the scope”. That’s what creates the foundation we need to uphold and enforce our boundaries.

Now look back at those business standards and plan the consequences (business policy/boundary action plan). If you and your clients meet expectations, what is the reward? If you don’t meet expectations, what is the penalty?

Example: If a client adds new requests to a project, your action plan can be to remind them of what was initially agreed upon and offer options for additional work—on your terms. A change in scope necessitates a change request. It affects any or all of three factors: timelines, budget and even the quality of your deliverable.

Finally, communicate Your Boundaries at the Right Time. Your sandbars cannot do their jobs if nobody knows they are there. It’s hard to uphold an expectation and consequences that are not communicated.

So, communicate your scope and expectations clearly to ensure everyone feels supported and aligned. You don’t have to bombard people, get intentional about communicating the right boundary at the right time. Whether that is during your sales process, during preboarding, during onboarding or as you deliver.

🦩Step 3: Enforce Boundaries at the Right Time

Setting boundaries is one thing; sticking to them is another. Have the courage to say:

“This is what we agreed on, and this is what we’re moving forward with.”

Be the leader and expert. Monitor and control your client engagements frequently. Use your operational KPIs to monitor progress and risks proactively. If an issue arises, deal with it there and then. If an expectation (boundary) is met or not met, lean on your boundary action plan to resolve it without guilt. Your sanity, personal life, team morale and business growth depend on it.

🦩The Ripple Effect

When you define and enforce clear boundaries around your client fulfillment scope, you:
✅ Save time and energy for strategic work. No more burnout!
✅ Build client trust and respect for your expertise and leadership.
✅ Protect your peace and reclaim your power.

The Flamingo Touch

Every boundary you set is an act of care— for yourself, your clients, and your business. Just like flamingos thrive in their sandbar sanctuaries, you thrive when your boundaries create a safe, productive space for everyone involved.

💡 Need a Fix?

If scope absence or scope creep has you stuck in a loop, let’s fix that! Whether it’s streamlining your client journey or creating a “definition of done” for your offers, we’ll get you moving forward with clarity and confidence.

OPTION 1: If you are stuck at 250-500K and ready for 1:1 services to streamline your client fulfilment process so your business grows without burning you out, book a 30 minute strategy call.

OPTION 2: Fly into the "CEO Like A CEO" Roundtable in the Pink Flamingo Club to start your end-to-end client fulfilment transformation and learn how to track and leverage standard business operations KPIs that make fulfillment and business growth 10x easier.

OPTION 3: Subscribe to Flamingo Fix: Your Weekly Guide to Scaling Smarter, Leading Better, and Living Freer! Get quick, actionable advice (like this post) to streamline operations, elevate client experiences, and scale your business—without the burnout. As a bonus, the first issue shares our proven client onboarding process, complete with the tools to create a red-carpet onboarding experience that wow your clients without utter chaos or losing your sanity.

Here’s to building a business that lights you up while scaling sustainably and reclaiming your time. 💕

Be amazing,

Danielle & Chanel