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I’m paraphrasing Elton John, I know, but I’m not much good with the word ‘no’.  I think there’s a little too much of the crowd pleaser in me to ever be very comfortable in denying anyone anything!

However, just last week, I did just that.  I said ‘no’.  And it wasn’t to some fly-by-night proposal, or to someone I didn’t know.  This ‘no’ was directed at a long term (though some what ad hoc & for this post, we’ll call him Bill) client.  And this client is someone I enjoy working with, is fun & pays up front!  What more could a girl ask for?

You see, it was like this.  Bill asked for a quick turnaround (<24hrs) on some work.  I said, Okay, (my current projects being at a stage where I’m waiting for info) and I thought I’d have time to dedicate to him. Bill pays me up front (*sigh*) and I take a look at the job.

Ugh.  Not what I thought it would be, but okay.  I do a little work on it, then pack up for the evening.  The following morning, there are panic emails from another client, whose project I’m currently working on.   So, I’m looking at my two commitments, thinking that I can’t juggle the work, I can’t commit enough time over the course of one day to each project, which would satisfy me and/or the clients & I’m not comfortable outsourcing anything.

So I make the decision to say ‘no’ to Bill.  As soon as I realised that I’d be taking on too much and not giving great service to anyone, (plus making me into a basket case), I had to talk to Bill and explain the situation.  He was incredibly understanding considering the nature of his job & I returned his money.

But I felt guilty!  And why?  Because I had to turn away some one I like & respect & go back on my word.  For hours I felt really uncomfortable.  And then, I began to think that really I had done exactly the right thing given the circumstances.  I had an on-going commitment to the current client & when I realised that I couldn’t give 100% to Bill, the best thing to do was to return his money and apologise for the wasted time.

Of course, with hindsight, the best thing would have been to not take the job in the first place.  Of course!  And hindsight should be banned.  But when faced with a choice between doing a bad job and saying ‘no’, I think I’ll take ‘no’ everytime (and try not to beat myself up about it!).

About Us:
Emma Crabtree, Virtual Assistant and Chief Organiser, is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, an off-site business support service.  Red Box Virtual Office can enable you to free yourself from the day to day admin of your business so that you can focus on what you enjoy and what makes you money. Go to the main website to find out more