---
title: Turn Down the Wrong Work
teaser: Saying "no" is hard in the short run but worth it in the long run.
tags: business
author: Matt Jankowski
published_on: 2006-12-19
---

Thankfully, this has been getting easier lately - but I don't think it will ever
feel normal, and it used to be almost impossible to do.  What am I talking
about?  Well, about not taking the wrong client work.

They say that you can either have price, speed or quality - but not all three.
This may be true, but those are just the things the client wants from you.  What
about the things you need from your clients?  When we first started, we took
almost any job we could find.  People on Craigslist, friends and family, word of
mouth jobs, former coworkers at new companies with buying power, etc.  If it was
someone we could get in front of and needed IT work or web programming done,
we'd probably do it.

Over time, you've got to become more selective.  You've got to work for
businesses who really believe in their business.  You've got to work for
businesses whose businesses you believe in.  You've got to have reliable clients
who deliver their part of the contract on time.  You've got to have clients
whose projects actually end when they're supposed to without endless feature
creep.  You've got to have clients who trust and respect your opinions on their
projects.

Sure, maybe you don't technically need these things to stay in business from a
financial perspective - but you need them in place to stay **sane** from a
personal perspective.