One of the hardest things to do with a service firm is to focus.
It takes a particular kind of discipline to turn away work.
Sometimes I see posts on here arguing that’s because service firms are desperate – they’ll take on anything.
I don’t think that’s right.
When you offer a service, it’s inevitable that if you do a good job clients will ask you if you can help with related issues.
And we want to help clients in any way we can so we’ll look into it and figure out what needs doing.
Often that leads to new service lines because if there is a problem that is worth solving then there’s an opportunity to provide a service.
But more often, it’s about having partners that you can work with that already do that kind of work well.
What we shouldn’t do is what my son did when I was teaching him how to ride a bicycle.
He came around a corner at full speed and then was suddenly distracted by some butterflies.
Butterflies are pretty, but you need to stay focused on the main job you’re doing.
The reward for doing good work is usually more work.
Handcrafted insight 