In the 1970's I owned a small retail business and found great success in NOT selling things which would bring me a greater profit then the things I did sell to a customer. It is easy to take advantage of a customer who comes in to a store and seeks advice from someone he perceives to be knowledgeable (it's te same idea that causes people to believe an elected official "knows what's he's talking about"). I could have loaded them up with all sorts of stuff to solve their problem and ring up a nice sale but instead chose to only sell them what they needed and to also take the time to guide them in using the product. By taking this approach I was able to generate additional sales by word of mouth advertising as well as build strong loyalty within my customer base. This allowed me to cut back on my advertising budget with the savings going in my pocket.
It’s all in taking a long-term vs. short-term view of the world. An old mentor of mine commented to an old partner of his about his missuse of the technology and the poor results. His old partner said something to the effect of “there are plenty of clients out there”.
The latest news I heard of the ex-partner was his use of a fradualent Ph.D. degree trying to get a government contract.