I once lost a €1.5 million project because I didn't do my homework

I once lost a €1.5 million project because I didn't do my homework.

The customer was fair, and the market was fine. I asked the subcontractors if they could execute the project and I trusted their "yes".

It was electrical and instrumentation work, and it was outside my expertise. I'm a mechanics and semiconductor guy, but the subcontractor said they could do it, so I moved forward.

But the project was a difficult one, and while the subcontractor said yes, they couldn't execute.

Three months in, the project director in Antwerp stopped speaking to me. He wouldn't address a word to me on site. It cost him his job, and it cost me every future project with that company.

Years later, there's still nothing.

Now we're back with the same type of buyer. A big contractor, a big project in France. Ten welders to start, scaling to eighty.

But it's different this time. The customer flew to our workshop in Portugal, and they did all the testing there.

They saw the people, the certifications, the actual work, and everything was made crystal clear before anyone signed.

That's what I teach the juniors I mentor: at the end, they do business with you, not with the subcontractor. You're the one carrying the responsibility.

So if there's any doubt, verify before you trust. Never promise what you haven't confirmed.

You might win the project in the short term, but you might lose a relationship that could've been the source of many future projects.