GETTING TO NO

Case studies of business owners who declined opportunities

CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGNS? PASS Reason: Unreliable clients

“Startups often hired us to get media attention prior to and after their crowdfunding launches. But after their campaigns ended, many of these clients were unable to get their products to market.” — Beck Bamberger, founder and CEO, Bam Communications

PRINTING A MAGAZINE? NO THANKS Reason: Not a core competency

“My company manufactures and prints presentation folders. Earlier this year, a consumer publisher approached us with a lucrative deal to print its monthly lifestyle magazine. Magazines aren’t our expertise, so we declined.” — Vladimir Gendelman, founder and CEO, Company Folders

CUSTOMIZATION? DON’T THINK SO Reason: Mission conflict

“Our website posts job listings—shortterm professional projects that are available to all visitors. Several top colleges have approached us with lucrative deals to get their own private sections for their students and graduates. We declined.” — Jeffrey Moss, founder and CEO, Parker Dewey

A MOBILE APP? APP-ARENTLY NOT Reason: Lack of technical expertise

“A global beverage company asked us to create a mobile app, a project not aligned with our business focus and which we had never done before. I didn’t want to take the risk, because I couldn’t be sure of the quality of execution.” — Rafael Romis, founder, Weberous Web Design

NON-GREEN JOBS? NO WAY Reason: Environmental concern

“We rebranded as an environmentally friendly [textile-printing] business. We also began using water-based inks. This meant cutting ties with about half my client base, and cutting my profits in half, too.” — Dominic Rosacci, founder and CEO, Superior Ink Printing