One of my clients built multiple thriving businesses from scratch in a short amount of time. And with success comes a problem: people constantly pitch you their ideas, wanting you to partner.
At first, it sounds exciting; new revenue streams and bigger impact. However, in reality, he was repeatedly being pulled into opportunities that looked good on paper but drained his most valuable assets: his time and energy.
When you’re operating at this level, you can’t afford to hand those away lightly.
He needed an Opportunity Filter:
a simple, powerful way to evaluate every new opportunity, before it cost him more than he realized. We built a grid together using questions that took emotion out of the decision and made it objective.
I asked him, “If you take on a new business opportunity or partnership, what are the non-negotiables that this new venture cannot compromise in your life professionally and personally?”
When you’re good at almost everything you touch, the question isn’t “Can I?” it’s, “Should I?”
Here’s what we created:
- Will this extend my workday into evenings or weekends?
- Will it compromise the performance of my existing companies?
- Will it put my current businesses at financial risk?
- Am I personally and professionally healthy enough (faith, family, health, community) to take this on?
That last one is critical but often overlooked.
If one or more of those are already out of alignment, taking on something new is only going to widen the gap he’s feeling. It reminded him what’s most important: ensuring those priorities were taken care of, not making more money.
Because entrepreneurs are the best at “selling themselves” on anything, we added two safeguards:
- What am I pretending not to see or justifying in my answers?
- What would ______ (trusted mentor) ask me that I’m missing?
What got him here was saying yes to almost everything.
What will take him to the next level is saying no to almost everything.
Since using this filter, he’s doubled his business in one of the worst economies his industry has ever seen — while cutting his hours in half.
It didn’t happen by working harder. It happened by filtering better.
Where in your world do you need to install an “opportunity filter”?
If you want to scale your business and your life, you don’t need more yeses.
You need a better no.
