Kibbe on Marketing: Between Mount Everest and a Hard Place

As business owners, we’re used to a certain amount of upheaval and uncertainty in our lives. We plow forward and make the best decisions we can based on the information we have. Yet there are times when, despite all logic, our gut is telling us something different.

That little voice spoke to me months ago regarding an opportunity, but I didn’t take it for what it was. You know the one – that little niggling feeling in the back of your mind, the rock that suddenly appears in your stomach that you can’t seem to digest no matter what you do.

I had an opportunity I just assumed was right for me when it wasn’t, not now and maybe not ever. When recently confronted with similar opportunity, that niggling voice turned into a shout and the rock became a boulder. I made the excruciatingly hard decision that that particular path wasn’t right for me, but not without a hell of a lot of heartache – and stomachache – for all involved. When I made the decision to focus my energies elsewhere, Mount Everest disappeared from my gut. I know, despite what my head was telling me, I had made the best decision for me.

Business owners experience the same thing from time to time. An opportunity or a client, even a business partner may seem perfect but for that little feeling, that rock in the stomach. We reason with ourselves, cajole ourselves, even berate ourselves, but we just can’t seem to come to true acceptance.

That is precisely the moment to stop and listen to your intuition. If you can find out why you have concerns, you’ve already won the battle. You can address them head on and your ultimate decision, no matter what it is, will be that much more satisfactory.

But what if it isn’t one big thing, but a million small things? That’s much harder. A situation like this makes your job of introspection much more difficult. That’s when you have to trust yourself. That’s when you just have to believe in yourself enough to make a decision with which you and you alone are comfortable despite how perfect the client or the contract seems. And that is hard.

It’s also important not to make decisions based on fear. That’s another thing altogether. Are you considering working with this client because times are tough and you’re afraid you might not get another one anytime soon? Or are things truly just not adding up right? The trick is learning the difference, and that takes supreme honesty towards oneself. And that is hard.

My original decision to consider certain opportunities just because that's the way things are supposed to go were based on fear. That led to some tough consequences, not to mention the loss of all the time I could have spent searching elsewhere. I’ll admit I first felt like a quitter and a coward, but then I realized I was ultimately saving others, too, from the same bad fit.

As a business owner, what would a working relationship be like going forward with a client or project you hate? Do you think you can honestly do your best work or give your best customer service in such a situation?

These are not easy decisions, especially when cold, hard honesty is required. Those around you may think you're crazy and that you've made a big mistake. Or the devil on your shoulder gets your ear. You know you did the right thing to walk away this time, but where’s the next opportunity going to come from and what if that one falls through, too?

Guess what? The next opportunity might not work out, and it may indeed be awhile before another one comes along. But it’s just as likely, maybe even more so, that the next opportunity will be a good fit. It might be right around the corner in a direction you weren’t looking or in a place you had forgotten to look. Why? Because you know now. You are now aware. You have more information about what you want or don’t want. And you are now armed with the courage to make those decisions that were so difficult the first time.

Growth is hard, and it really hurts sometimes, but it’s the only way forward. Listen to that little feeling. And if you train yourself to listen to it sooner than later, to be honest with yourself and have the courage to trust your decisions, you just might avoid having to digest Mount Everest.

Cindy Kibbe is owner of Cindy Kibbe Creative Communications, a writing services firm based in New England. She was an editor for a regional business publication for nearly a decade. She can be reached at cindy@kibbecreative.com.