The Electric Pulp blog did a hilarious post called 12 Inquiries that got the gong, named after the tv show The Gong Show
Some of the humor may be limited to those familiar with web design, here’s a few good ones.
4. I’d like to launch my site in 3 weeks and have a design/development budget of $600. Can you provide me with a .PSD mockup of your ideas to help me make my decision?
7. We manufacture approximately 85,000 industrial truck parts and need an ecommerce outlet available in four weeks. I need your help convincing the company to spend more than $1,000. How quickly can you come out?
8. … In lieu of payment, I could add you to my advertiser list once the site launches.
9. I’m starting my own development business and would like to learn more about how you price your projects. Can you tell me how you’d respond to the following RFP?
Humour aside, if you’ve recently started up a business, you will get some prospective clients you need to say no to because they’re not a good fit for you or have unrealistic expectations, or they’re going to be a more trouble than they’re worth.
Adults with ADHD are more likely than non ADDers to say yes to new opportunities, including business opportunities. This is because doing new things or adding on new clients can be stimulating and crank up the dopamine we’re so often short of. That and our tendency to be impulsive or entrepreneurial depending on the context. It often can be a major factor in our success (ADDers are often excellent enterpreneurs) or a major source of grief.
Sometimes you have to learn the hard way, that one way to create a more profitable and satisfying business is learning to say no to the wrong opportunities for you.
What business opportunities are you glad you said no to?
Pete,
You’re right about learning to say “no”. Breaking up is hard to do, but it’s easier to do it before you start dating.
Glad to hear our humor (mind if I spell it the crazy American way?) was appreciated.
good analogy Michael, your humour was definitely appreciated and i think will serve you in a secondary way by helping you to indirectly to screen out those prospects who don’t have a sense of humour. They’d probably be no fun to work with anyways.