Can we talk about turning down a big project

Last month, a client offered me a $5,000 website redesign with a two-week deadline. Everyone says to never say no to good money, but I knew it would mean all-nighters and dropping my other steady clients. I said no, and it felt awful at first. That freed me up to finish a smaller project for a regular who then referred two new people to me. The referrals ended up being worth more over the next six weeks. Has anyone else had a gut feeling to walk away from a 'good' deal that actually paid off later?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_olivia1d ago

My gut feeling is usually to eat the entire pizza, so ignoring it for once was a win. Turned down a rush job for a local bakery's new site because the timeline was crazy. Spent that week fixing up my own portfolio instead. A bigger company saw the updates and called me the next month for a project that was way more my speed. Sometimes saying no is just making room.

claireg8123h agoTop Commenter

Making room" is a good way to put it... I always thought saying no was losing out.