Every once in a while you need to fire a client.

This advice is going to sound a little shocking, especially if you’re an ep client, but it’s a lesson that every service provider needs to learn. Sometimes you need to fire clients.

We’ve all heard of the 80/20 rule. For a service provider, it means that unless you work to correct it, 80% of your problems come from 20% of your clients. And there are points in everyone’s timeline where it feels more like a 90/10 rule.

So how do you correct the ratio? Well, to start, you don’t buy business. If you can’t answer “yes” to at least two of the following qualifying questions, don’t even consider the project.

• Will the project make you money?
• Will you enjoy working on it?
• Will it lead to more work?

The reality is that nobody can forecast the performance of a project or client relationship, and one “no” can easily end up turning into two.

For us, the problem was always bringing on projects at discount rates (that aren’t for charity, noble cause, etc.) Reducing your rate also reduces the perceived value of a project. And when a client perceives lesser value, they also assume lesser difficulty and expect urgent attention.

The points in our timeline where we felt 90% of our problems were coming from 10% of our clients were times that we brought on projects assuming one “no” but realizing two. We had clients expecting cheap, fast, and good and requiring urgent attention to unimportant matters.

Catering to long-term clients that don’t consistently provide you with two or more “yes” answers will hamstring your business. Fire them.

A quick confession: I’m still absorbing this lesson myself - this post may be one I need to print off and tape to a wall.