We recently turned down the opportunity to work on a translation job because the client’s deadline was unrealistic. It was a very difficult one to turn down, because the subject matter – financial statements –is a topic with which I am intimately familiar.
You see, I have done work as the treasurer of two organisations. I did accounting at the ordinary level (fifth year of secondary school) and advanced level (seventh year of secondary school) and I have been serving on the board of a financial institution for some years now and we review accounts monthly. In addition, I interned at two banking institutions and have 10+ years’ experience translating various financial documents.
So you could understand my disappointment when I could smell and taste this project, but knew that it would not be a good fit for us because of the unrealistic timeline for delivery. It was not just interesting for me to work on, but it was a beautiful, sizeable project, so it would have been a lucrative opportunity.
There are sometimes disappointments that I face as a business owner, but I have to assess situations and opportunities before me and make decisions that benefit both the client and the RMC team.
If I were to accept a job which I knew fully well we would not be able to deliver within the limited timeframe, I would be:
For these reasons, we chose to say no to this project. This is just one of the tough decisions that had to be made, but I can safely say that it was done to the benefit of both the client and our company.
I hope that the client recognises that we made the best decision that we could, and as professionals, we would not accept a project if we did not think we could deliver quality on time.
Have you had to make tough business decisions? Do you turn down opportunities that are not the right fit for both you and the client? Please let me know in the comments.
Email us at pm@rmclanguages.com for more information on how we can help you translate sensitive and confidential documents into another language.
You see, I have done work as the treasurer of two organisations. I did accounting at the ordinary level (fifth year of secondary school) and advanced level (seventh year of secondary school) and I have been serving on the board of a financial institution for some years now and we review accounts monthly. In addition, I interned at two banking institutions and have 10+ years’ experience translating various financial documents.
So you could understand my disappointment when I could smell and taste this project, but knew that it would not be a good fit for us because of the unrealistic timeline for delivery. It was not just interesting for me to work on, but it was a beautiful, sizeable project, so it would have been a lucrative opportunity.
There are sometimes disappointments that I face as a business owner, but I have to assess situations and opportunities before me and make decisions that benefit both the client and the RMC team.
If I were to accept a job which I knew fully well we would not be able to deliver within the limited timeframe, I would be:
- extremely stressed out;
- disappointed if the client’s deadline was not met; and
- I am sure that the client would be disappointed or lose trust in our ability to do what we say we can.
For these reasons, we chose to say no to this project. This is just one of the tough decisions that had to be made, but I can safely say that it was done to the benefit of both the client and our company.
I hope that the client recognises that we made the best decision that we could, and as professionals, we would not accept a project if we did not think we could deliver quality on time.
Have you had to make tough business decisions? Do you turn down opportunities that are not the right fit for both you and the client? Please let me know in the comments.
Email us at pm@rmclanguages.com for more information on how we can help you translate sensitive and confidential documents into another language.
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