A few weeks ago, Noah wrote a guest post about turning projects down. I shared my own ideas on the topic a few months back. Today it occurred to me the posts on this blog are really focusing on one side of the story. Now this is exactly the stuff you need to hear if you are someone who is taking on every project that comes your way. But not everyone is in that predicament.

Some people have a crystal clear idea of what type of project they want to work on. Usually about 15 minutes into a meeting with a new potential client, they might realize this project isn’t going to fall within the perfect set of parameters they’ve defined. Maybe they aren’t going to be able to reuse that old block of code the way they want. Maybe the client wants to go in a dull design direction that is going to keep this project out of their portfolio. Whatever the reason is, this work is just not appealing.

If you’ve read the posts about turning down work, then you’ll probably walk away from that project and pat yourself on the back for standing tall. Good job! Now… how are you going to eat this month?

Passing on projects is a no-brainer when you have a lot of money in the bank. Unfortunately I don’t know many freelancers who are sitting on a large pile of cash. If a big financial safety net is the kind of security that attracts you, you probably didn’t make the jump into the uncertain world of freelancing in the first place.

It’s fine (and sometimes necessary) to decide that you aren’t willing to take on a bad project even when you really need the money. If you find yourself doing that on all of the potential work that comes your way, though, you’re business is probably going to struggle. So here are some factors to to consider when you are thinking about walking away:

• Your Bank Account - You got into this business because you love it, but it is still a business. If you’ve got bills to pay, you may just need to grit your teeth and do the work. Look at it this way, would you rather do this one unpleasant project or go back to your last job? (And what does your answer to that question tell you?)
• Who’s the Client? - Some clients are worth doing work for. A high profile client that will get you a lot of attention can be worth dealing with because it will get you more exposure to the type of client you do want to work with in the future. Maybe doing a project for your neighbor is a big pain, but he happens to work for the SBA advising startup businesses. If you want to work with startup businesses, this unpleasant job might be worth taking.
• Referral Source - If you’ve done a good job building word-of-mouth, then sometimes your business contacts will send new clients your way without lifting a finger. Don’t underestimate the value of these referral sources to your business. If you always reject the work that someone sends your way, they will simply stop sending work your way. If someone has the desire to help you but keeps sending you crap projects, the onus is on you to help that referral source understand how to send good projects your way.

These decisions are rarely black and white. A project is seldom 100% work you can’t wait to do or 100% work that will make you tear your hair out. There’s usually some of each. If you’ve already got more work than you know what to do with, maybe you hold out for those projects that are at least 90% awesome. If you’re going through a dry spell, maybe your standards drop to 70% or whatever works for you.

The bottom line is to be flexible. If all of the work available to you seems painful, maybe you need to be looking at a career switch. If everything that comes across your desk falls just short of perfect, though, consider taking on one of those less than ideal projects. That not-quite-great project will help you keep the lights on while you seek out jobs that are all the way perfect.

filed under: Running a Business