A short YouTube video by Phil Risher advising business owners (especially in trades like HVAC, plumbing, electrical, lawn care) to refuse clients who don't fit their company culture. Risher warns that taking on such clients drains time and energy, lowers team morale, and argues for a strong gatekeeper to protect the team and say no even if the revenue seems attractive.
You have to be able to say no. And this is extremely hard, especially when you're just starting a business or even as you're going, because you can see, like, wow, they might spend this much money with me. And I'm saying no to that. What ends up happening is when you take these people on, they are. They suck all your time, they suck all your energy. You don't look forward to working with them. And even worse, if you have team members, it sucks their time and their emotions. They don't like coming to work because they have to deal with these crazy people. So you have to have someone who's a very, very strong gatekeeper that says, this person does not fit our culture, nor do we want to work with them.
The companies that win the next five years won't be the ones gaming the system.
