Get the business, don’t say NO

One of the big learning from my last assignment, which was also an entrepreneurial assignment, was that of “getting business first”. I have seen that it is OK to get business first and then figure out on how to deliver, and not the lack of capacity stand in the way. Having business and not having capacity is a problem, but it is a good problem to have. This is specially so if it is a profitable business. There is always a way to deliver. I am not suggesting that you lie, or cheat or lose money, but losing business is a business loss for ever. This is especially true for start-up environment where founders often get scared to get business under self-doubt on their ability to deliver. My take is that if you doubt your ability to deliver, then you should not be in the business in the first place. Believe me it is easier to deliver if you have a commitment of the customer backed by an order and agreement.