In sports, you hear a lot about ‘home-field advantage’.

This is used to describe the general trend that teams are more likely to win games or matches when played on their home turf.

Some studies show aggregate home-team win rates of ~60% or higher, compared to the 50/50 split you might expect.

You could attribute this to familiarity with the field itself, weather conditions, lack of travel fatigue, an engaged fan base…

At least one study concludes it’s most attributable to referee bias.

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I’d say there’s a mindset angle here as well.

You just feel more yourself in your home environment.

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When you’re out on your own as a solo consultant, it can feel like you’re constantly ‘on the road’ — not traveling per se, but always the 'away team' playing on your client’s turf.

Besides, you’re working on their problems, with their stakeholders, producing results for their bottom line.

So, is that just something we have to deal with?

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First, I’d suggest that client relationships should be thought of more as collaborations or partnerships, not a win/lose or me vs. them binary.

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But there are many tactical aspects within your control that can provide a home-field advantage mindset:

Domain — you’re being brought in because you know a particular problem better than anyone else internally (perhaps even externally)

Helper persona — you've selected how you’re most efficiently deployed for your business, e.g. as an advisor, a strategist, a one-time fixer, etc.

Ideal client profile (ICP) — your ICP isn’t just the most financially viable one; it’s also one you selected because you know you work best with certain types of teams, personalities, dynamics

Marketing — the tactics and channels you choose to engage in align with your strengths, e.g., if you hate public speaking, don’t do it; if you love writing, lean in that direction

Sales — if you clam up in sales situations, you can opt for a set-price, productized service model; conversely, if you have a keen eye for quantifying mutual value creation, lean into customized offers and proposals

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All told, you do have quite a bit of influence over what the ‘field’ looks like.

More so than you ever did in your rigid corporate box.

And remember, you have ultimate authority to decide whether to play the game at all.

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💡

-Wes

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P.S. I’ll be back to my home field (and regular Lightbulb cadence) next week.

So long, Palm Springs. ⛰️ Don't mind the mid-hike hat hair.

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