Firing A Client
A wise man once said “There are two kinds of people in the world. The kind of people that divide the world into two kinds of people, and the kind that don’t.” My version of that for today is that there are two kinds of companies: Companies I want to work with, and companies I don’t.
Today I got my first experience in saying no to potential business. It was one of those situations where I knew in the first phone call I should have probably walked away, but it’s hard to say no to money, especially when I am just getting started.
One of the things I told myself when I started this venture was that I needed to be cognizant of opportunity cost at every turn. Doing A means I probably can’t do both B and C, so A needs to be worth doing. Today I finally pulled the plug on this opportunity that had been a drain on my time and mental energy. I did it before any money changed hands, and before any paperwork was signed.
I am a big believer in doing the right thing. I chose to give away my work to this particular client and walk away rather than sign up for a relationship that was going to have discussions about money, fees and rates every time I turned around.
I have a pretty good idea of what my time and expertise is worth. It’s worth more than some, and less than others. But I know what it is. It’s fine if others don’t see it my way. It just makes the decision that much easier.
Every day I face new decisions, ones that before I have been able to defer to someone else. Just the practice of making new decisions every day has been invaluable.
Onward and upward.
