To do or not to do

It sounds great when you tell people that you don’t have a boss and are not reporting to anyone. The most envious responders to this statement are the unfortunate ones who have endured or are currently suffering with a boss from hell. But in truth, being an independent consultant means that you have multiple clients, and guess what? They are all your bosses.

At any given time, you will have projects which are either just in the initial enquiry stage, some that you have sent proposals for, some you are currently executing and others that are closed out and need to billed. Depending on how the work load looks in the immediate to short term horizon, you have a different feeling when a potential new job appears. If things have been slow and you have been twiddling your thumbs, any prospective lead looks attractive. Quite often, you are eager to get it converted to an actual billable project but when you learn more about it, it seems out of your league. Occasionally, the work looks doable but the terms are horrendous. At other times, the client gives you a strange feeling in your gut. What to do?

With experience I have found that my gut is a pretty reliable indicator of things to come. What sounds too good to be true, generally is. If clients are trying to beat you to a price that does not work for you, chances are that the outcome will not satisfy either party with no repeat business. When clients are in a tearing hurry to accomplish the activities, work will get done but perhaps not to your satisfaction, if you have high standards. And god forbid you accept a project that is totally out of your field of expertise, just for the “experience”. I am most unhappy when I find myself in mysterious waters.

Now I use a mixed indicator when new prospects show up at my door.
• Have I done this kind of work before?
• Have I worked with this client before?
• Can I do a decent job in the proposed timeline?
• Does it pay adequately?
• Is it something new and exciting where the learning experience is worth the trouble?

Based on the answers to the above questions, and with the gut indicator thrown in for good measure, the outcome is usually satisfactory – primarily for the client and also for me.

That is the service I have set out to provide. I have met my goal.