Sometimes, success is walking away

There is no prouder moment in my career than the day I was walked out of an advertising agency for refusing to offer analytical services to their gambling client.

At the time, Brabeum was in start-up mode. We were struggling to get our first few deals over the line. The agency had called us in to present, based on a referral. They had been very impressed by our presentation and were keen to progress, even though we were a younger business than our competitors. 

During the demonstration, their team had called in a number of their senior leaders to show how we worked.

“We have a client problem for you,” they said. “They have a large pool of former customers that are no longer gambling and we need to work out how to change that.”

Our response was a surprise to them. We explained that we wouldn’t work with a gambling client, as we didn’t believe that it would ultimately offer value to the end customers. In fact, it might push problem gamblers back into the habit.

We asked whether they had other clients with challenges we could address. The moment was lost, we were pretty much ushered out of the building.

I sometimes wonder if my businesses would be larger today, if we hadn’t been so selective in who we work with. I remind myself that at the end of each day, I need to look in the mirror and see a dad my kids can be proud of. 

I also need to be someone my team wants to work with and maybe that’s why the businesses are going well. Our team genuinely believe in what we are doing. If we don’t believe we can help a client or, if we don’t believe that by helping them, their customers will benefit, we won’t take on the project.

It might just be that the work we don’t do is what makes us who we are.