We Were Winning Work We Should Have Walked Away From
As we were building our engineering & built environment consultancy from $3M to $30M, we were obsessed with winning work.
Every new contract felt like progress.
Every new client felt like a win.
Every yes felt like momentum.
But underneath the revenue growth, something wasn't adding up.
A handful of clients were consuming a wildly disproportionate amount of our time.
They changed scope constantly — but pushed back on every variation.
They paid late. Every single time.
And every interaction left the team drained.
But we kept saying yes to them.
Because the revenue looked good on paper.
The truth we had to face was this:
Not all revenue is equal.
Some clients pay your invoices. Others cost you far more — in time, in energy, and in the toll it takes on your people.
So we did something we'd never done before.
We scored every major client. Not just by revenue — but by margin, by relationship, and by whether they were the kind of work we actually wanted more of.
What we found changed everything.
Some of our biggest clients were our least profitable.
Some were actively hurting team morale.
And we were too committed to the wrong ones to take on better work.
So we got clear on the type of client we wanted.
We built simple criteria to evaluate new opportunities before saying yes.
And we slowly started exiting the relationships that didn't fit.
Margins improved.
The team's energy improved.
And we had room for the right opportunities.
Growth isn't just about how much work you win. It's about the quality of the work you choose to take on.
So the question is:
If you scored your current clients honestly — how many would make the cut?
To your success,
Josh
PS: If you’re interested, here are 4 ways I can help you right now:
- Grab a copy of my new book | Profitable Engineering Consultant | 9 strategies to grow with confidence, get your time back & consistently hit 30% plus net profit margins – Click Here
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