Tag Archives: freelance

Rising Above – Ending Client Relationships

Ending Client Relationships

Rising Above

There comes a time for every freelancer (and small business owner) when a client relationship no longer works. Ending client relationships shouldn’t be taken lightly, because every bond we form with a customer has the potential to benefit us, and them,  long-term. But when it comes down to constant tension or haggling, it may be time to rise above and end the relationship graciously.

Grace vs Grief

The temptation, when a client relationship hits a snag, may be to protect our own interests. As professionals, however, we know that working through the rough spots with grace and patience is the smarter route.

Forming the habit of giving clients grief is deadly. It changes how we feel about ourselves and our own abilities. It changes how clients, and the people they talk to, see us. It can kill a freelance career or a megabusiness. It’s simply bad business.

But what to do when the relationship with a client requires time and effort way beyond the potential return? We step back, take a breath, set aside the snarky response we’d like to unleash and graciously suggest our services are no longer a good fit.

This response allows the client to save face. And it’s true, isn’t it, that if they find it necessary to fuss and finagle each time we do business, we probably aren’t the best fit for them?

Lessons from Ending Client Relationships

When the dust has cleared, this type of client has lessons to teach. Lesson one is learning to recognize a problem client ahead of time. Clients who simply can’t be made happy aren’t that hard to spot, if we let go of the need to please everyone.

Think about it – when too many clients become a problem, the problem could be our own filters. We’re most likely opening our filters far too wide and letting in business we don’t have any business taking.

Here’s an example: I once contracted with a client who fussed about my rate for “an easy project” but agreed to my terms. From the first set of articles forward, his need to “get his money’s worth” by requiring endless rewrites dropped me down below minimum wage.

Had I not been in a dry spell, my filter would have picked up from the get-go that this was not a client with whom I needed to do business. I had to bite the bullet, suggest we were not a good fit and refrain from responding to the verbal abuse that came next. (And he never did pay for the last set of articles.)

Lesson learned, move on and recognize that someone who doesn’t recognize the value of my services at the beginning isn’t likely to change. And here’s the tie-in to our original topic – if I hadn’t chosen the gracious route and chosen instead to start an argument, it probably would still have ended with not being paid, just a lot more money and whole lot more grief later.

Rising above and graciously ending client relationships is always the better path. It allows us to maintain our dignity, allows them to move on to a better fit, and strengthens the control we have over the way we do business. Win, win, win. What could be better?

Have you had to let go of a problem client recently? What do you wish you’d done differently?

photo credit: triggzBb via photopin cc


About ADHD & Entrepreneurship…

On this morning’s walk with the dogs, I had some time to think about the static that keeps us from succeeding as entrepreneurs. With a little thought, I decided that the same traits that keep us from succeeding in the corporate world may be the very things that get in the way of making it on our own.

Entrepreneurship & ADHD

Bored Employee

Here’s what got me to this point: I was thinking about how many of us leave the corporate world because of boredom. We may have uber skills in our chosen areas, but we find the environment stifling. We twitch and shiver and maybe stir the pot all day long in an attempt to relieve the anxiety that’s destroying our focus.

I’m convinced that many of the talented adults I’ve seen failing in highly-structured work environments are undiagnosed sufferers of Attention Deficit Disorder. We want to play well with others. We want to contribute. We simply can’t function in the same enclosed space, on the same old work details day after day without feeling the fallout of anxiety. Insomnia, compulsive eating, irritability, stress-related illness. Bosses aren’t happy, we aren’t happy. And then we leave and start the cycle over somewhere else.

That brings me back to the whole reason I’m writing this post. If we go through this frustrating cycle of starting and ending employment often enough, we may wonder if it would be better to work for ourselves. Freelance. Start a new business. But if we can’t figure out what’s triggering our anxiety about work and how to structure our lives in a way that reduces it, we’re back in the same muddle of unhappiness before too long.

So what to do if ADHD (or general anxiety about work) and entrepreneurship aren’t mixing well? I’ll give you my cure in one sentence: we structure our lives in ways that make sense for us. After all, we’re working for ourselves. We’re responsible to create the product or service that pays our bills. So it makes sense, doesn’t it, that the structure we create has to fit who we are, ADHD symptoms and all.

One of the biggies in my self-structuring list is that I don’t work in the same place every day. If my focus is wandering badly and I have a deadline to meet, I pack the laptop and walk to the corner coffee shop. That change in environment always puts me back on track (and the Mayan Latte adds spice to my writing!)

Another important way I compensate for what I refer to as “the buzz” is to work shorter blocks of time. I find I am more productive when I break up the day into two hour blocks – writing, walking, writing, working on website, etc. Maybe for you, it means walking out of the place of business you’re running and forgetting about it for thirty minutes. Could mean playing basketball at the Y in the middle of the day.  Maybe you take a nap at 2 p.m. or do fifteen minutes of Zumba.

Whatever it takes to break up the day and relieve the anxiety of maintaining focus, it’s okay for us to do it. We’re the boss, we know what makes us tick and we are not flaky. We have gained the self-knowledge to know how we are most productive. No apologies necessary.

I’ll ask a question to end: if you’re having trouble maintaining your focus during your adventure in entrepreneurship, what can you do to reframe your time? Here’s a bonus question: what will you build into your workplace as it grows to allow your employees the same freedom? It could become a movement – can’t wait to hear your ideas.

photo credit: RBorello via photopin cc