I used to chase every single lead like it was gold, now I fire bad clients

For my first three years in consulting I said yes to everyone who had a credit card. I took on clients who argued over my rates, ignored my advice, and demanded revisions at 10 PM on a Friday. Last December I had a guy pay me $500 then threaten a bad review because I didn't answer his call during my kid's birthday party. That's when I drew a hard line. Now I have a three question screen before I even hop on a call, and I've dropped two clients this quarter alone. My revenue actually went up because I replaced them with people who pay faster and argue less. Has anyone else here walked away from a paying client and seen your business improve?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_ben2d agoMost Upvoted

Man, I used to think grinding it out with any client was just part of the hustle, but @robert_craig is right - cutting the dead weight actually clears space for better work.

robert_craig2d ago

Yeah, dropping bad clients freed up time for ones who actually listened and paid on time.