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A friend of mine was in a meeting this past week, talking about some unique deal structures she’s put together through her years as an entrepreneur. The meeting organizer loved what she presented and immediate started talking about putting on an event for her to present it to a larger audience. From prior experience, she knew the tendency of this group to expect her to do this on a volunteer basis and wanted to nip that in the bud.

“You know, this is not the PTA. If you have some funding for this, I would be happy to discuss it with you.”

The organizer chuckled and actually high-fived her for her directness. What she knew, and I have personally seen, too many people – mostly women – are all too quick to offer valuable services for free. We do it on a whim, almost a knee-jerk reaction.

We then work to rationalize or justify giving away our time:

-         “I’m building credibility”

-         “I want to give back”

-         “It would be good experience”

-         “I need good references”

I’m not buying it. We give away too much. One of my favorite quotes that I have hanging on my wall at home as a reminder: “Stress is what happens when your gut says no but your mouth says “Of course, I’d be glad to.”

Don’t get me wrong – I am all for giving back and encourage volunteer work and philanthropy, but it must be proactive rather than reactive. It must be done strategically – intentionally.

It’s great that so many entrepreneurs want to change the world, but as I tell my students and clients: It is easier to change the world when you have money. Focus first on building your business by meeting a need in the marketplace for which customers are willing to pay. Give away your time or products only when the cost/benefit has been carefully thought through and the strategic value understood.

Next time you’re in a situation where you’re tempted to raise your hand and volunteer, stop and think. If someone around the table is getting paid to be there, why not you?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under Business Growth, Entrepreneurship, business success secrets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.