My claim here is that sometimes you shouldn't take on new business. When shouldn't you? When your business systems can't support the business rules required by the new business.

Partnerships with others should be a conversation supported by business systems that are flexible enough to capture and interpret the data. Personnel manning these systems must be able to express all actions needed to support the business. Financial reconciliation reports should be mocked out. Any manual intervention should be assumed as the weak link that can unravel and poison a good business model.

Handle new business with care. With the proper systems and resources to do things right. You internal folks want to do a good job. You need to put them in a position to win without taking short cuts that could bite you later. Keep a lot of eyes on the system. Give everyone the right to pull the no-go trigger. Think a 100 times before you take on new business. Think a 100 times about what you need to build into your business systems in the first place.

Service oriented architecture is a buzz word today. It can be used in passing with little regard for the true intention and meaning. A key requirement to being able to service someone is that you are given enough time to think and focus on what you need to do to make that one customer happy. You can not provide good service if your attentions are constantly divided.