Why and When to Fire Clients

Buddha of Hope at Super Foods in Punta las Marias San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Contractor or Almost Employee?

As I reach the milestone of leaving a corporate job 6 years ago, I have noticed many patterns.

One that really blows my mind is how many leave a corporate job to start their own business, get hired as a contractor, and still appear as an employee of the company.

Outsourced Department or Separate Company?

Over time, these small businesses become extensions of existing departments where they outsource the work to a small company.

These small companies are happy that they have one or two clients but they don’t really see the long term risk of having just one or two clients.

When your revenue comes from one or two clients they pretty much have control of your company and many decisions you make.

They tend to dominate small businesses in more ways than just the economical one.

Not all clients that are big and “ideal” under traditional marketing terms will make your business profitable and provide long term benefits.

Video Episode In Spanish

In this episode Gil and I discuss how to:

  • Identify clients that might be a threat towards the long term continuity of your business.
  • Understand why that client is a threat.
  • Once you identified there is a toxic client relationship what to do to fix it.
  • Some tips on professional ways to fire a client.

More importantly how to keep the business aspects of ending a relationship on the business side of things and not to take any business issues into the personal aspects of your life or that of your  clients.

A good business relationship can  end in a positive personal relationships and what is healthy for all parties.

Firing a client is not a failure; it is just a step in the journey of continuing to build your projects and efforts.