Is it all worth it...?
Discussion
Mon Ami Mate said:
What annoys me more than anything is the potential client who strings me along, gets me to research and write a proposal (which I always make as comprehensive as possible) and then takes the proposal and tries to do it himself on the cheap. This is happening more and more regularly at the moment, one shopfitting company recently had the brass neck to tell me in my first follow-up call that they had no intention of hiring me and had "just been looking for fresh ideas". Strange that wasn't mentioned before the proposal was sent!
feck me thats one brass neck they have. i can see why you are pissed off!
Mon Ami Mate said:
What annoys me more than anything is the potential client who strings me along, gets me to research and write a proposal (which I always make as comprehensive as possible) and then takes the proposal and tries to do it himself on the cheap. This is happening more and more regularly at the moment, one shopfitting company recently had the brass neck to tell me in my first follow-up call that they had no intention of hiring me and had "just been looking for fresh ideas". Strange that wasn't mentioned before the proposal was sent!
The problem is if you start treating all your prospective clients with the same scepticism then you will win no work. But these ar5es always come out and promise you the word when you need the work the most.
Mon Ami Mate said:
What annoys me more than anything is the potential client who strings me along, gets me to research and write a proposal (which I always make as comprehensive as possible) and then takes the proposal and tries to do it himself on the cheap. This is happening more and more regularly at the moment, one shopfitting company recently had the brass neck to tell me in my first follow-up call that they had no intention of hiring me and had "just been looking for fresh ideas". Strange that wasn't mentioned before the proposal was sent!
That is totally outrageous but not all customers are like that. As a far-fetched idea, could you perhaps offer your services to their competition? Way I see it, you have a) already written the proposal and b) it might piss the first lot off. Probably not workable but would be nice to get back at them.
o.versteer said:
Mon Ami Mate said:
What annoys me more than anything is the potential client who strings me along, gets me to research and write a proposal (which I always make as comprehensive as possible) and then takes the proposal and tries to do it himself on the cheap. This is happening more and more regularly at the moment, one shopfitting company recently had the brass neck to tell me in my first follow-up call that they had no intention of hiring me and had "just been looking for fresh ideas". Strange that wasn't mentioned before the proposal was sent!
That is totally outrageous but not all customers are like that. As a far-fetched idea, could you perhaps offer your services to their competition? Way I see it, you have a) already written the proposal and b) it might piss the first lot off. Probably not workable but would be nice to get back at them.
If they use you then next time : Give them a quote which has £XK for ideas generation / concept design / feasibility study / diagnostic. Ask for 30% up front in any case.
I approached one company about doing something that they were experts in and they came to the meeting with photo's of something they'd done for our competitor, but I was concerned that they really wouldn't take our confidentiallity seriously. They never got the job, which was worth maybe £150K, so You need to be careful.
guys guys guys
I can see that things are a bit tough for the original poster and I truly hope that he/she gets things sorted - but I have to say that what you are moaning about is just life, its the real world, its business - if you cant hack it - jack it!
Feeling sorry for yourself, or getting others to feel sorry for you, aint going to solve any of your problems now is it - in fact sympathising with you is probably going to make you feel worse - what you need is a kick up the arse!
Focus on what you are good at and, more importantly, focus on what makes money - sub the rest out (get a good accountant and if you cant sell - ask yourself - should I really be in business - if you cant sell you wont get any decent business and no business = no profit and if you are not making a profit - you shouldnt be in business) - but stop moaning and asking "where are all the good clients" - nobody in their right mind is going to tell you the answer to that one - thats what having YOUR OWN business is all about!
Its a tough world - get used to it!
khushy
PS - I hope that you get it all sorted btw - dont mean to be disrespectful.
I can see that things are a bit tough for the original poster and I truly hope that he/she gets things sorted - but I have to say that what you are moaning about is just life, its the real world, its business - if you cant hack it - jack it!
Feeling sorry for yourself, or getting others to feel sorry for you, aint going to solve any of your problems now is it - in fact sympathising with you is probably going to make you feel worse - what you need is a kick up the arse!
Focus on what you are good at and, more importantly, focus on what makes money - sub the rest out (get a good accountant and if you cant sell - ask yourself - should I really be in business - if you cant sell you wont get any decent business and no business = no profit and if you are not making a profit - you shouldnt be in business) - but stop moaning and asking "where are all the good clients" - nobody in their right mind is going to tell you the answer to that one - thats what having YOUR OWN business is all about!
Its a tough world - get used to it!
khushy
PS - I hope that you get it all sorted btw - dont mean to be disrespectful.
Mon Ami Mate said:
srebbe64 said:
I seem to recall Mon Ami Mate, that you were considering a career in politics (unless it was someone else). If you ever did, it'd be great if you took these real life experiences into the political arena and made a difference to normal people in business. I get sick to death of The Revenue, Health & Safety, absurd employers legislation, etc...
My political career died with David Cameron. I didn't make the shortlist for candidacy on account of being too white/male/heterosexual. Back to business then...
khushy said:
guys guys guys
I can see that things are a bit tough for the original poster and I truly hope that he/she gets things sorted - but I have to say that what you are moaning about is just life, its the real world, its business - if you cant hack it - jack it!
Feeling sorry for yourself, or getting others to feel sorry for you, aint going to solve any of your problems now is it - in fact sympathising with you is probably going to make you feel worse - what you need is a kick up the arse!
Focus on what you are good at and, more importantly, focus on what makes money - sub the rest out (get a good accountant and if you cant sell - ask yourself - should I really be in business - if you cant sell you wont get any decent business and no business = no profit and if you are not making a profit - you shouldnt be in business) - but stop moaning and asking "where are all the good clients" - nobody in their right mind is going to tell you the answer to that one - thats what having YOUR OWN business is all about!
Its a tough world - get used to it!
khushy
PS - I hope that you get it all sorted btw - dont mean to be disrespectful.
I'm not interested in making people feel sorry for me, I'm interested in helpful solutions and wise advice. Thank you for yours. I can see that things are a bit tough for the original poster and I truly hope that he/she gets things sorted - but I have to say that what you are moaning about is just life, its the real world, its business - if you cant hack it - jack it!
Feeling sorry for yourself, or getting others to feel sorry for you, aint going to solve any of your problems now is it - in fact sympathising with you is probably going to make you feel worse - what you need is a kick up the arse!
Focus on what you are good at and, more importantly, focus on what makes money - sub the rest out (get a good accountant and if you cant sell - ask yourself - should I really be in business - if you cant sell you wont get any decent business and no business = no profit and if you are not making a profit - you shouldnt be in business) - but stop moaning and asking "where are all the good clients" - nobody in their right mind is going to tell you the answer to that one - thats what having YOUR OWN business is all about!
Its a tough world - get used to it!
khushy
PS - I hope that you get it all sorted btw - dont mean to be disrespectful.
I tried to be helpful - if you read again with a different head upon your shoulders . . .
Helpful Solutions & Wise Advice
Get an Accountant
Kick your arse - face the reality of doing business on planet earth - it aint going to change - only YOU can change your approach
Focus on what you are good at - sub out the rest cause you are obviously no good at it!
Reassess your position - should you really be running your own business?
Wise words I think!
Khushy
PS - like I also said (because you seem to be focusing on the -ve) I hope that you get it sorted - if I didnt mean it - I wouldnt have said it!
Helpful Solutions & Wise Advice
Get an Accountant
Kick your arse - face the reality of doing business on planet earth - it aint going to change - only YOU can change your approach
Focus on what you are good at - sub out the rest cause you are obviously no good at it!
Reassess your position - should you really be running your own business?
Wise words I think!
Khushy
PS - like I also said (because you seem to be focusing on the -ve) I hope that you get it sorted - if I didnt mean it - I wouldnt have said it!
Mon Ami Mate said:
Feeling fairly disillusioned at the moment. If all the companies that promise work actually meant what they said, I'd have a significant business. How are you ever supposed to plan for growth when companies continually string you along? Why can't they just say no if they mean no, yes if they mean yes, and come back in a few months if they mean maybe? Securing business right now seems to be more of a minefield than wooing women ever was. Is the rest of the world like this or is it just reserved for public relations/my business in particular? Maybe it's something I'm doing wrong?
Of the clients I have, if they all paid their bills in the time they commit to paying their bills, I wouldn't have any cashflow problems. The VAT office wants money I haven't received yet, the bank won't extend the overdraft, even though it's pathetically small, the outstanding invoices more than cover it and the company has been significantly in the black for most of the last six years. People to whom I owe money want it NOW, no ifs, no buts, no discussion. Have a fine if you are a few days late. People who owe me money dive more than premiership footballers on ice.
The problem is that I'm good at doing what I do. I'm not good at selling or being a credit controller, and I can't afford to hire a salesman or a financial director. Where can I find high quality customers who value a good service and can be relied on to pay their bills in time?!!
Of the clients I have, if they all paid their bills in the time they commit to paying their bills, I wouldn't have any cashflow problems. The VAT office wants money I haven't received yet, the bank won't extend the overdraft, even though it's pathetically small, the outstanding invoices more than cover it and the company has been significantly in the black for most of the last six years. People to whom I owe money want it NOW, no ifs, no buts, no discussion. Have a fine if you are a few days late. People who owe me money dive more than premiership footballers on ice.
The problem is that I'm good at doing what I do. I'm not good at selling or being a credit controller, and I can't afford to hire a salesman or a financial director. Where can I find high quality customers who value a good service and can be relied on to pay their bills in time?!!
MaM
If you're sure you want to cherry pick your clients apropo their ability to pay on time, I'd recommend RiskDisk. I use it extensively to gauge if I want to extend credit to companies.
You could set yourself some rough guidelines along the lines of: I'll only allow x% of my turnover to be from clients with a credit rating of y and below and the rest to be rock solid (as much as it can be) credit. It normally goes hand in hand that a company with a low risk also has a decent cashflow to pay bills.
Sorry if you already do this and I'm teaching you how to suck an egg.
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