INSIDE LETTING-GO MENTORING
Choose the Client Type You Can Hand Over
An example, not a client story.
Nothing can be handed over until the work is the same job done again, and the fastest way to make it the same is to narrow the client type. Ivanka Menken works this through with the Step-Out Log inside Letting-Go Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. You have eleven clients across six industries and each job needs your eyes. You write your client type in one sentence, then hand over the first repeated piece of work for 14 days.
The Step-Out Log is a tool inside the programme, not a separate product.
AN EXAMPLE CLIENT LIST
Eleven clients, six industries, one founder in every job.
- BEFOREevery brief and buyer differentWhoever says yes
- THE SENTENCEand one decision-maker, in the example5 to 20 staff
- THE FIRST HANDOVERwith the team, no override14 days
THE RULE
“Same client, same job, then hand it over.”
An example, not a client result. Your client type will differ.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Every client is a different shape
- 01Every client is a different shape, so nothing can be passed on.
- 02You cannot describe your best client in one sentence.
- 03You are the only person who can quote, scope or finish the harder work.
THE CLIENT LIST, AS IT STANDS
- Clients: eleven, across six industries
- Client definition: whoever says yes
- Jobs alike enough to document: none yet
- Work only the founder can do: most of it
- First handover: not chosen
An example. Plenty of clients, no two alike.
THE EXAMPLE CASE
One client list, read three ways
An example, not a client story.
01
THE CLIENT AND THE MOMENT
Every client a different shape
The founder of a five-year-old marketing studio, with a team of six, takes work from anyone with a budget. Every project needs the founder's input, because the brief, the buyer and the deliverable change each time. The week is a run of small decisions nobody else can make. The founder came for help because each new client added hours, not capacity.
02
WHAT THEY HAD TRIED
An assistant and a project tool
The obvious fix was to hire an assistant and buy a project tool. Both were useful, and the work still came back. No two jobs were alike enough to document once, so every handover needed a new explanation, and explaining took longer than doing it. The founder paid for the help and kept the work.
03
WHAT IVANKA NOTICED
The easiest jobs had something in common
Ivanka noticed that the founder's easiest and most profitable jobs all came from businesses with a handful of staff and one decision-maker. Those jobs looked alike. The brief was similar, the buyer was the owner, and the deliverable repeated. The hard, slow jobs came from everyone else.
THE DIAGNOSIS AND THE INSIGHT
A client-type problem dressed as a delegation problem
The founder thought the problem was delegation. It was the client type. When every client is a different shape, there is no repeated job to hand over, so no assistant or tool can take it. Narrowing to small-team businesses would make the work repeat, and the handover possible.
Nothing gets handed over until the work is the same job done again. The fastest way to make it the same is to tighten the client type.
Nothing gets handed over until the work is the same job done again.
THE COST OF STAYING STUCK
Keep serving whoever says yes and every new client adds work only you can do. Growth arrives as more hours rather than more capacity, and the team stays waiting for your input.
THE TOOL
The Step-Out Log, for one client type
The Step-Out Log is the written record of what still needs you, so each handover comes from your own evidence, not a guess. For a client type, Ivanka starts it from the last ten clients and the work that repeated.
An example client list. Tap a part. Your clients and your sentence are yours.
Step-Out Log, for one client type · a framework by Ivanka Menken
What it is
In Letting-Go Mentoring the log usually starts with a day out of the business, writing down everything that needed you. Here it is applied to the client list: mark the jobs that repeated, write what those clients share, set the boundary in one sentence, then log the first repeated piece of work as the handover, left with the team for 14 days.
What it replaces
It replaces delegating work that changes shape every time, and the assistant or tool that cannot take on a job nobody has done twice.
It sits inside Letting-Go Mentoring with the fortnightly handover and the monthly scorecard, where commitments kept are counted. No separate checkout.
THE LOG, FOR A CLIENT TYPE
- 01The last ten clients: which produced near-identical work
- 02What they share: headcount, how they buy, what they complain about, who decides
- 03The boundary: your client type, in one sentence
- 04The first handover: the part of the repeated work you still do yourself
- 0514 days with the team: no override, then reviewed at the next session
HOW IVANKA WORKED WITH THEM
Start from the last ten clients
In the example session, Ivanka asks the founder to list the last ten clients and mark which ones produced near-identical work. She asks what those clients have in common: headcount, how they buy, what they complain about, who decides. She writes the boundary in one sentence. Then the Step-Out Log comes out. The first handover is the part of that repeated work the founder still does personally. Before the next session, it stays with the team for 14 days without override.
THE STEP-OUT LOG, FILLED IN
- Last ten clients, work repeated
- 5 of 10
- The sentence
- Businesses with 5 to 20 staff and one decision-maker.
- First handover
- The part of the repeated job the founder still does.
- With the team
- 14 days, no override.
- Review
- At the next session, with what came back.
An example. Your clients and handover are yours.
THE FOUR-STEP LOOP
- 1The one thingThe client list, and the work that keeps needing you.
- 2The numbersHow many of the last ten jobs repeated, and their headcount.
- 3The storyWhy saying no to an enquiry feels like losing money.
- 4The commitmentThe one-sentence client type and the first handover, left with the team for 14 days.
THE QUESTIONS
- Which of your last ten clients produced near-identical work?
- How many staff do those clients have?
- Who decides, and how do they buy?
- What do they complain about?
- Which part of that repeated work do you still do yourself?
Before the next session, the founder tests the next two enquiries against the sentence and leaves the first handover with the team for 14 days, writing down anything that comes back.
WHAT CHANGED
The same job, done again, by someone else
By month 6, the client type is a working filter and the handovers come from repeated work.
NOW
- Work comes from anyone with a budget.
- Every brief, buyer and deliverable is different.
- The assistant and the tool cannot take the work.
- Each new client adds hours only you can do.
BY MONTH 6
- The client type is one sentence and turns work away.
- One handover goes on the Step-Out Log every fortnight.
- Each handover stays with the team for 14 days, no override.
- Commitments kept appear on the monthly scorecard.
THE 12 FORTNIGHTS
- 1Call
- 2Call
- 3Call
- 4Call
- 5Call
- 6Month 3
- 7Call
- 8Call
- 9Call
- 10Call
- 11Call
- 12Month 6
The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, one handover each fortnight, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.
ILLUSTRATIVE RESULT
In the example, the founder rewrites the client definition around small teams, turns away two enquiries, and puts the first repeatable task on the Step-Out Log. It stays with the team for 14 days without override. Illustrative, not a client result.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
The next enquiry is a client-type decision
Ivanka Menken built Letting-Go Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses who have become the bottleneck. She asks the hard question and holds you to the handover you write down, one every fortnight.
If you cannot describe your best client in one sentence, that is the first thing to write. Then test the next enquiry against it before you say yes.
“Ivanka has the unique ability to ask the challenging questions and be supportive at the same time.”
Business owner
WHO IT IS FOR
It fits
- You run a $500K to $3M service business and are the bottleneck.
- Your clients span many sizes and industries.
- Delegation keeps failing because no two jobs are alike.
- You will write one handover every fortnight and keep to it.
It does not fit
- You want open-ended coaching.
- You want a done-for-you fix.
- You will not turn any enquiry away.
- Your work already repeats and is already handed over.
THE INVESTMENT
AUD $1,500
per month ex GST
6 months · 12 fortnightly sessions
The Step-Out Log is part of Letting-Go Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.
- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- One handover each fortnight
- A monthly one-page scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous. Claim a founding place.
The Step-Out Log is part of the programme. It is not sold separately.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions about the Step-Out Log
Why businesses with 5 to 20 employees?
In the example, those were the clients whose work repeated: a handful of staff, one decision-maker and a similar brief each time. Your band may differ. The point is the one your own last ten clients show. Ivanka Menken works it out with you in Letting-Go Mentoring, a 1:1 programme that runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Won't narrowing the client type lose me work?
It turns some work away, on purpose. In the example, two enquiries were declined. What you keep repeats, so it can be handed over, and your hours stop growing with every client. Ivanka Menken holds you to the sentence inside Letting-Go Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
How does the client type connect to letting go?
You can only hand over a job that has been done the same way before. A narrow client type makes the work repeat, and repeated work can go on the Step-Out Log. Ivanka Menken uses that order in Letting-Go Mentoring: client type first, then one handover every fortnight. The programme runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
What goes on the Step-Out Log first?
The part of the repeated work you still do personally, for the clients inside your sentence. It stays with the team for 14 days without override, and what comes back becomes the next session. Ivanka Menken reviews it with you inside Letting-Go Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Write your client type in one sentence
If every client is a different shape and every job comes back to you, start with Letting-Go Mentoring. The Step-Out Log is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether it fits.
Not open-ended coaching and not a done-for-you fix. It expects one handover every fortnight.