We’ve all heard this from prospective clients for whom we have declined to offer our services. The retorts range from puzzled to angry, but the refrain is the same: we simply MUST perform services for them. A service entrepreneur is generally free to offer, or decline to offer, to work for anyone. A physician can turn down a patient, a lawyer decline to represent a client, and a plumber choose not to fix a person’s water heater. Indeed, our American system of free enterprise recognizes this choice. Even if someone is contractually obligated to perform a service, the contract can be breached, and economic damages are what the non-breaching party is entitled to, should he decide to sue. In other words, we don’t punish someone for breaching a contract. This is intended to create efficiencies in our market-based system. If it’s more profitable to breach a contract and provide a service to someone else, we don’t have an obligation to fulfill the contract, and we are not going to be punished for breaking it.
By the same token, as a service entrepreneur, you should be selective about the clients you serve. If you’ve never turned a client down, this is probably a warning sign that you are accepting the wrong kind of work.