Why Saying ‘No’ Is An Important Aspect Of Business Growth

When you first start out, telling someone “no” may terrify you. I think Warren Buffett said it best, “Really successful people say no to almost everything.” There are many reasons why sometimes saying “no” is the best move for you and your business.

Prioritization

A large number of business owners share the common fear of “missing out” on a good opportunity, so they find themselves saying “yes” far too often. Saying “yes” to every opportunity can hurt you in the long run. If you have to juggle multiple items you’ve said yes to, it becomes difficult to get everything done in an efficient time frame. You also run the risk of your work appearing sloppy if you had to rush. Prioritize your work and avoid taking too much on all at once. Successful business owners should not spend their entire day in meetings. Spending all day in meetings with people has little return for you or your business. Pick and choose the meetings you think would actually prove valuable to your company, instead of entertaining every single person who asks you for a meeting. Your time is valuable and people will understand that if you are straight forward and honest about how you need to be spending your time.

Goals

Another reason it is important to prioritize what you say yes to has to do with the nature of what that person needs or wants. Does that align with your overall goals as a business owner? Will it help propel your business or will it cause harm? Not every opportunity is a beneficial one, and it is important to learn how to tell the good opportunities from the bad ones. “As an entrepreneur, you should practice the art of no, without guilt, and with confidence in what you’re choosing to say “yes” to.” Says business blogger, Mohammad Ali Vakil.

Business Value

When it’s all said and done, businesses require money to run. To create revenue for your business, you must ensure the product or service you are providing is of the utmost quality. When deciding what to focus your energy on in regards to customer service is crucial. Here are a few factors to consider when looking at options to improve or change customer service:

• Reach – How many customers will be affected or impacted by this change or update?
• Impact – Will this change be beneficial overall or cause harm or anger among customers?
• Effort – How long will it take to get this implemented? Is it worth your time to pursue?

Strategy

When you discover a strategy or platform that works well for your business, stick to it! Often, business owners try to juggle too many strategies at once. By doing that, you waste money and time. For example, instead of marketing on every single social media platform, advertise on the website that has performed the best. Put your energy into creating the best content on your most successful platform.

Saying no can feel scary, especially when you are first starting out. Learning what to say yes and no to takes time. You will make bad calls sometimes, that is inevitable. It’s learning from those past mistakes and adjusting how you react in future situations that separate successful entrepreneurs from average ones.