One of the best things about a 25+ year career?
Helping others to NOT make the mistakes I did.

Project: International Conference. 40+ countries represented.
Location: Stresa, Italy.  1999.

Lesson learned #1: Secure an adequate budget.

Truth is, I was so excited about my first international gig, I probably would have done it for free. Here’s what I learned the hard way:

When there’s not enough money to meet client demands, either the budget has to increase, or the expectations must decrease.

I should have been confident enough to ask my client to make that choice. It’s a very hard lesson to learn. If you have integrity and your desire is to do excellent work, the temptation is to think you should just “do whatever it takes” to deliver great service.

But, in the end you simply set yourself up for failure. You set a precedent, and the client will have an inaccurate view of the value of your work, and of what something truly costs. Plus, they will expect that level of work for that amount of money from here on out. It’s just not fair to you or your long term relationship with the client.

Better to focus on giving your best effort on each project you do…and charging honestly. A desire to deliver excellence must go both ways: You have to decide a fair price for your excellence, so that you can keep doing it. Gaining a reputation for excellence and fairness is much better than excellence and cheap.

Because only one of those is sustainable.