In the past several months, I have gotten more and more inquiries from individuals asking me about various service providers that I work with. They were not asking for recommendations though, they were inquiring to find out if they could afford to work with those providers.
My answer…“Why are you asking me?”
I have no idea what your business’s budget is, what your goals are or what the specific service provider could offer you (which may be entirely different than what they offered me, depending on your needs and their bandwidth). Maybe they are willing to barter, make an exception or have a different tier of services. That’s not a decision that I can make, because it is not my business.
Ironically, over the same time period, I have been getting feedback from others that certain businesses and solopreneurs would like to work with me, but don’t think that they can afford it. Again, an assumption is made without any further information. It may be true, but it’s free to ask.
If you need a recommendation, ask someone you know. But if you need information on pricing, why go through an intermediary? It’s ok to turn someone down if you can’t afford them, but doesn’t it make more sense to at least explore possibilities with the individuals (or company) with the decision making power?
