At what point do you decide your time, your integrity (and your sanity) are worth more than the invoice?
Twelve or so months in, and honestly, we're pretty proud of what Rowntree² has become.
We've won clients we're genuinely excited to work with. We've done work we're proud of – the kind that makes you remember why you started. We've built something real, from nothing, with no safety net, which is simultaneously terrifying and one of the most rewarding things either of us has ever done.
But it hasn't all been smooth sailing. The ups have come with some downs and I thought it might be useful, both from a personally reflective point of view, as well as sharing learnings in an environment where others can do the same.
With that in mind I thought I’d start a little mini-series of learnings we’ve had over the last year in the hope that it solicits thoughts and advice from my network, helps others who might just be starting out, and / or give someone a safe space to vent about their experiences!
This is the first of those.
I think the honest version of building a business in public means talking about the bruising experiences as much as the wins.
Here's a pattern I suspect will be familiar to anyone who's started an agency, a consultancy, or any kind of professional services business.
A potential client reaches out. Proactively. They've self-identified a need, they know what they're looking for, and they know who you are. I can’t think of a better way to kick-off a new business conversation.
You scope the work, you share a proposal and you get enthusiasm in return.
Then you get silence.
Not a firm no. Not a "we need more time." Just… silence. So, you follow up (politely & professionally), and get a burst of energy, a promise of movement, and then the same thing again.
You give it time. You stay flexible. You adjust the scope when they ask you to. You rebuild the proposal when the brief shifts. You match your availability to their timeline, your thinking to their priorities, your patience to their pace. Because let’s be honest – we understand how priorities shift, where marketing & communications often sits on a to-do list for busy people for whom this is not their area of expertise.
But somewhere in the middle of all of this, you look up and realise that you’ve invested a significant amount of time, energy and goodwill into something that hasn’t gone anywhere and looks less likely to with every passing day.
We've been here. More than once, if we're honest.
I guess my question is, when should we have recognised the red flags? At what point do you draw the line and walk away? How much of it do you ignore if you know the person? Have you ever felt yourself knowingly jumping through these hoops because you’re desperate for the business? I shared this experience with someone over a coffee the other day who said he qualifies out leads pretty quickly and that he’d rather spend time looking for new business elsewhere, rather than pursuing something that feels as hard as this to get over the line. But for us, new business is not our skill-set, or passion. We’re learning, but we’re learning on the job.
Perhaps we’ll get better at recognising the red flags sooner and learning to qualify out leads earlier, but when you’re building a business and a lead comes in like this, it feels so positive and reinforcing that it’s sometimes difficult to remove the blinkers and see the bigger picture.
I’d love to hear what other people have to say on this. Please drop thoughts and tips in the comments!
