I Fired a Client Last Week

It wasn’t easy to do—I was a good fit for the work, the gig was ongoing and it paid pretty well. But the person who oversees this project was sucking the energy out of me. The job wasn’t worth the anguish.

I had been warned. About a year ago a colleague had strongly advised me not to take the work; she said this manager would make my life miserable and he would never change. My colleague spoke the truth.

I didn’t make the firing decision in haste, and it was only the second client I had ever let go. After I gave the client the news, I told some of my solopreneur and entrepreneur friends what had happened and asked if they had ever fired clients. Here were their responses:

• Band manager: It’s sometimes empowering firing clients, ridding oneself of unnecessary burdens. That was the way I felt when I relieved myself of a band I managed in the first half of the 2000’s. No doubt, you’ll notice yourself feeling happier now.

• Financial adviser: Good for you Larry. Life is too short to deal with pains in the asses. I have done the same thing over the years and never regretted any of them.

• Designer: Firing clients is never fun, especially when they are a major client. We’ve had to do it a few times over the years too and it’s really hard each time. It’s a relief though, especially when you can then make more space to work with people you do like.

• Owner of small manufacturing company: If you have one particularly demanding client, it brings down your level of service for all of your clients and ultimately the bad client costs you money, besides making work miserable instead of fulfilling.

• Contractor: Nothing worse than a pain-in-the-ass client. I am sure you are relieved.

• Wholesaler: It frees you up for a much better client!

The Postscript
Five days after firing the client, I developed an idea that could double the amount of income I was receiving from the bad client. This new opportunity will help a lot of people and I will have an absolute blast executing the plan. I never would’ve been in the creative place where I conceived the idea, if I still had the bad client dragging me down.

Have you ever fired a client? Was it the right decision?
Please share your thoughts in the comments.