Just as clients can fire the contractors working for them, freelancers and independent consultants also sometimes have a need to fire one or more of their clients.

Why Fire a Client (When it’s OK)?

• A particular client is making excessive demands which are seriously or completely decreasing your profit margins on a project, such as nitpicking over every small detail when you’ve already met all of your contractual obligations.
• A client is attempting to make demands they can’t legally make regarding how, where, or when your work is to be done (remember, a client can’t control you in that sense when you’re an independent contractor – if they want those rights they can hire an employee and pay the taxes and benefits that come with that).
• Your client is making changes to the scope of the project which either can’t be accounted for in your schedule, or which they’re not willing to pay extra for. If your client isn’t clear about what they want from the beginning, you shouldn’t be the one paying for their mistakes and lack of organization and planning.
• Your client is insulting, disrespectful, or demeaning. If they don’t like you or your work, let them take it elsewhere.
• Your client is causing you extreme amounts of stress unlike other clients – could be a result of any of the things already mentioned.
• The client is late on payments regularly.
• Your client takes forever to get back to you to provide details and answer questions (especially if they then expect you to drop everything and respond to their requests immediately).
• The client can’t or won’t pay your rates (could be clients who came in on a limited sale and expect that rate forever, those who expect to pay your old rates indefinitely when your demand increases and your rates increase with that natural growth, etc.).

A lot of independent professionals, especially early in their careers, are afraid to fire a client, because they’re afraid they won’t find others to replace them. But there are good reasons to fire toxic clients if you have them:

• You’re not making any money, because their constant demands are costing you money directly or excessive amounts of time.
• You’ll be more productive in work for your other clients when you’re not constantly stressed because of these few.
• You’ll be less likely to burn out and hate your work if you eliminate these kinds of clients.

Firing bad clients is ok and a perfectly acceptable thing to do as an independent professional. But keep these things in mind:

• If you find yourself wanting to fire the bulk of your clients, take a look in the mirror, because the problem probably actually lies within you and not them.
• Don’t walk out on a contract unless the client is violating their own contractual obligations. It’s better, and easier, to simply let them know that you won’t be accepting any further projects from them when the current contract is satisfied.
• If you want to fire a client who has you under a long-term contract, give them at least a short notice period to find someone to replace you for the project.

Related posts:

1. Employee or Independent Contractor: Who Should You Hire for Your Small Business?
2. Getting Your First Client
3. Postal Rate Increases and Effects on Small Business
4. Ways to Improve Your Professional Image
5. Tips for Setting Rates as a Freelancer or Independent Consultant

Tags: bad client, clients, contractors, fire a client, fire clients, freelancers, independent consultants, toxic clients

This entry was posted on Monday, October 1st, 2007 at 4:56 pm and is filed under Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.