I am sure that most people who own their own businesses have faced this decision at some point or another, and probably more than once. It is the decision between taking on a project that is outside the main line of work and earning additional revenue, or declining the project and sticking to what the company is good at. It can be a challenging choice, especially if you are not over-booked or if you need some extra cash. Some people always follow the philosophy of “do whatever it takes to bring in revenue.” But that is a dangerous path to head down, since it can easily take away the necessary time from keeping your company focused and improving on your area of expertise.
We are all dealing with the same amount of time, so we can’t do anything about that. The only thing we can do is manage our time to the best of our abilities. Now if you are not sure what you want to do, maybe taking on anything that comes is a good idea. It should give you a good understanding of what is required for the completion of different tasks and projects. Once you know what you want to do, it can be tempting to go on tangents while you build up your customer base, but it will always take away from learning and developing your skills and knowledge in your field.
I don’t have any stats on this, but it would not surprise me if most business owners faced this type of dilemma on pretty regular basis. Even when the company is established, in order to grow it needs to expand. It can expand the services, or alternatively it can expand on the number of clients serviced. Again not an easy choice. This post is not intended to provide an answer, as I do not really have one; more importantly it is intended to draw your attention to the common dilemma. And I welcome any thoughts you may have on this.
Until next time,
V