Yes, firing a client. An alien idea ? I bet you have clients that drive you crazy, who make you cringe, who make you feel used and abused… so its Springtime – do some spring cleaning.
So many people when they start in business make the mistake of accepting people as clients, and often when their gut feel tells them not to. You get wise eventually. Trust me !!
Clients to possibly fire include:
1. those for whom you have delivered the work but they keep asking this question and that question and suddenly you find you’ve done many hours of pro bono consulting. Remember you are running a business not a charity.
2. getting paid – especially a problem when you accept young entrepreneurs as clients who are being funded by organisations that help them start out in business. You are not there to provide a free line of credit. Not to mention all the time and energy you spend on trying to get the payment.
3. you dread seeing their name appear in your email inbox – you know that they are going to bug you about something – usually something they hope to get for free except they are starting to do this too often and rarely email back to say ‘thank you’. They are making you feel used and abused.
4. when you started out you gave some clients a really preferential rate because you liked them and their business idea, you wanted to get the experience, you thought they would be successful and for later work would be able to pay you what you were really worth… but this has not happened and you are now attracting clients who are able to pay what you are worth. Unless you have a really good reason its time to move on.
So, work with clients who respect you, who value you, who appreciate your knowledge and expertise and who are willing to pay you what you are worth and promptly. It’s your right !
