Just say “no”.

As a consultant, it is often the case that friends refer potential clients to me.  In the past I always felt obligated to work with these referrals, regardless of my own instinct about them or what they were asking of me.  I believe many consultants, especially in a cash flow crunch, feel or have felt the same.  Work is work, isn’t it? Well, yes and no.

I have learned that I should listen to my “gut” about some people and their projects, because experience has shown (and I am talking about my personal experience) that when all is said and done, I wind up feeling put upon and/or ripped off at the end of a gig that I didn’t have good feelings about at the start.   Now some may say that is a self-fulfilling prophecy, and to that I can only shrug and say “I tried and came away with a bad taste in my mouth”.  And usually it cost me more than I successfully was able to charge for – though I suppose that is sometimes the cost of doing business, it is also the cost of wisdom. 

My advice to consultants out there, is to just say “no”.  Sometimes it is the better part of valor to back off from a project or client from which we have bad vibes.  It is a difficult thing to do, no mistake, but it is far easier than being stuck with a $15,000 invoice that is unpaid (and subcontractors that you pay out of your own pocket because of it) or spending over 40 hours on someone’s “vision” to find that what they asked for is nothing like what they actually wanted.

My colleagues and I share these horror stories with good humor over a glass of wine, but truth be told I would greatly prefer not to have such stories to share.  So remember, if it hurts when you do that, don’t do it.