Seth's Blog : Twenty questions - In world

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Seth's Blog : Twenty questions

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 ...
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Twenty questions

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.

        

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