09/02/2026
Ask an agency owner in December which engagements cost them money, and most can name two without checking. Neither one looked like a problem in the pitch.
The work came through a referral, sat close enough to what the team does well, and paid near the going rate. The trouble showed up later, in hours that ran long, scope that crept past the SOW, and an account taking more of the owner's attention than its revenue justified.
The pattern holds at every agency size, and it lands somewhere most owners would rather not look. The willingness to take on any reasonable project is often the thing holding the business back.
We wrote up what to filter for instead, and how to say no in a way that still generates referrals.
Read the full piece: https://shorturl.at/vYNfI