Your next project might feel like a calling, but it’s a choice. A choice that will have an impact on each day you spend on it.
There are no right answers here, but before you fall in love with a business or an organization, it may pay to think about these and other options that are built in:
- Are you selling to consumers?
- Are you raising money?
- Do you serve one person at a time or does a committee have to agree?
- Is there a network effect to the work you do?
- Is the margin on each item low?
- What’s the lifetime value of a new patron, customer or partner?
- Is the work time sensitive?
- Do you meet with people in person?
- Are you answering RFPs or are people seeking you out by name?
- Is price or yield or efficiency the dominant metric in making a choice?
- Will you create value with your personal effort or by managing others?
- How will people find out about what you do?
- Is accuracy the most important part of what you deliver?
- Can a competitor who works far more hours have a big advantage over you?
- What’s the effluent, waste or side effects of what you create?
- Are you likely to spend time working with peers you like?
- Are you likely to respect your customers?
- How much time after you begin before you expect your metrics to be positive?
- Is the learning curve steep?
- After you’ve learned how to do this, does it become boring?
Pick your customers, pick your future.
PS Joel recommended this post from fourteen years ago.
