The struggle is real

Not working for free seems like a no-brainer, right?

Not quite! As a growing company, this is a real struggle. You may find it hard to say no, especially when:

• a prospect is dangling a large contract
• there is potential for a large sale
• you stand to lose a sale
• there are few or no other deals in the pipeline

You will then agree to work for free, hoping that the prospective customer, whether a large or small company, will buy something from you later on.

Unfortunately, this is an assumption that could result in wastage of time, effort, money, and manhours.

There needs to be an exchange of value

When your business is doing something for nothing in return, there is neither value nor risk for the other party. This defeats the whole concept of business, which is to mitigate and share risk.

Therefore, always ensure that you are getting something of value in exchange for the time and money you are investing in working for a potential customer. This could be in the form of money, time, or something else.

Make it a win-win

Doing or giving away something for nothing doesn’t win a sale because there is no shared investment.

To make it a win-win, make sure that there is a shared investment. This will be possible only when you charge or get something in return for work done.

In summary, working for free will not win sales. Instead, get something of value in exchange for work done. This creates a shared investment, leading to a win-win situation.