Hard and Fast No’s

I have a hard time saying no. Period.

When I started Yet Another Studio, one of the first things my coach and I worked on was defining criteria that made it easy for me to say “no” to a project or a client. Some of this had to do with the industry or business model that they had (I don’t work with organizations whose economic prosperity depends on exploiting, endangering, or harming individuals) or the working relationship with the client. 

This was helpful for me because it was an important muscle for me to build, and it allowed me to spend less time on things that were not going to benefit me or the business. Having a clear set of criteria of what I didn’t want to do, how I didn’t want to do things, or who I didn’t want to work with, made it really easy for me to identify hard no’s and do it fast.

It also helped me make decisions about how I talk about the business. A clear example of this is that I only work on a project or retainer basis. I don’t have hours that are for sale at a standard rate. Knowing this means that I decided not to put any cost information on the studio site because my time is not for sale outside of the scope of a project or retainer. This felt like a small thing at the time, but when I saw it in the broader context of what I didn’t want, it made perfect sense. 

Four months into running the studio, my fast and hard no’s have been one of the most beneficial operating criteria. They’ve probably saved me dozens of hours at this point — both of my own emotional energy and time and calls that I would have had with clients who were not a great fit. 

If you find yourself starting down the path of consulting, or even find yourself on that path and feel like you’ve been spending too many hours following bad leads, I’d encourage you to make time to be clear with yourself about the criteria that get you to that hard no, quickly. I promise it will pay off down the road.