In the current economy with its fragile and moody recovery, it’s only natural to jump at opportunities as they present themselves, because they’re there. Those opportunities may not be perfect fits for your business. Perhaps they extend your product in a direction you really weren’t intending to go. Perhaps they extend your ‘lean and mean’ resources beyond the breaking point. You grab them regardless because you don’t know when the next opportunity will come.
It’s understandable to go after work when you can get it, but you may not get the results you desire. I had the good fortune to watch a business owner turn down a lucrative opportunity recently. I say good fortune, because I learned something important. Not all work is equal. If the opportunity takes too much of your business’s resources, negatively impacting your existing clients, it can have a long-term effect that actually undermines the health of your business. Can you run a successful business relying on a single customer? Can you afford to alienate existing clients for the sake of obtaining new ones?
What if the new opportunity tips the scale internally, disrupting the work/life balance of your employees? Can you maintain a productive and loyal workforce when you push employees to their limits every week? Is the threat of unemployment going to keep those employees and their expertise around when the economy gets better? Can you get the quality of work you expect from employees who work too hard for too long?
Knowing when to say when is important to long-term success. Turning down work, even in a bad economy, can sometimes be the smart move. In my recent example, I saw a CEO make the tough financial decision to turn work away. He did this to prevent his employees from burning out. He did it because the work would tie up key people who he wished to tap for new product development – demonstrating a longer term vision. He also wanted to maintain an important separation between his own company and the new client. He did not want to become the virtual development arm of that client.
The CEO’s decision to turn down the opportunity had immediate results. The new client did not cut ties and move on. Instead, they came back to the table and the two companies negotiated smaller, more manageable work using a phased approach. The CEO’s decision affirmed the business’s commitment to its employees and its existing clients. It also demonstrated the leadership qualities of the CEO, something that galvanized the employees and helped to form a stronger team.
Knowing when to say when is placing your core business values ahead of the immediate win. It is looking beyond the next payroll and press release, and instead, maintaining your business focus. Knowing when to say when is recognizing that not all work is equal, and a business’s employees are the most critical ingredient to success. These were good lessons to learn.
