Latest / Freelance Careers with Fexingo: Independent Work, Consulting, and Self-Employment / How Firing a Client Boosted a Freelancer's Income
Transcript
- Lucas: I want to talk about a decision that sounds counterintuitive: firing a client to make more money. Luna: Isn't that the opposite of what most freelancers do? Most people hold on to every client they can get. Lucas: Exactly. There's this fear that letting a client go creates a hole you can't fill. But there's a freelance brand strategist named Sarah who proved the opposite. She had a client paying her five thousand dollars a month, which was about thirty percent of her revenue at the time. But that client demanded constant revisions, almost always paid two weeks late, and the work was draining her. Luna: So she fired them? How did she even start that conversation? Lucas: She didn't just send an email. She prepared a transition plan. She gave the client a thirty-day notice, offered to help onboard a replacement freelancer, and even suggested three other designers she respected who might be a better fit. The client was initially upset, but they appreciated the professionalism. Luna: That's smart. It's like breaking up gracefully. But what about the income gap? Thirty percent is huge. Lucas: Here's the thing: while she was spending all that time managing the difficult client, she had almost no capacity to market herself or take on new work. After she fired them, she suddenly had about fifteen hours a week free. She used that time to reach out to her network, update her portfolio, and pitch two ideal clients. Luna: And both said yes? Lucas: Within two months, she landed two new clients. Each paid three thousand five hundred dollars a month, so that's seven thousand total. She went from five thousand to seven thousand dollars a month, and her total meeting time dropped from ten hours a week to about four. Less stress, more money. Luna: That's a forty percent income increase and a lot of reclaimed time. I'd love to know the criteria she used to decide which client to fire. Lucas: Sarah used three specific signals. First, the client consistently paid late — it wasn't a one-time thing. Second, the scope creep was chronic. Every project came with five additional requests that weren't in the contract. And third, the work she was doing for them didn't align with her ideal project type. She wanted to focus on brand strategy, but they kept asking for social media graphics. Luna: So a kind of 'pain score' for each client. I've heard of consultants using a client scorecard, but applying it to decide who to drop is different. Lucas: Exactly. She rated each client on payment timeliness, scope adherence, profit margin, personal satisfaction, and growth potential. The difficult client scored low on almost every metric except revenue. But once she realized that the revenue was actually a trap — it was preventing her from earning more — the decision got easier. Luna: I imagine the hardest part was the emotional hurdle. That fear of losing a steady paycheck. Lucas: Absolutely. But she told me she kept reminding herself: the opportunity cost of keeping a bad client is even higher. By holding on, she was missing out on better clients who would pay more and respect her boundaries. Luna: So after she fired them, did she have a dip before the new clients started? Lucas: She did. That first month after the transition, her income dropped to about two thousand dollars — just from a small retainer she still had. She had to dip into savings for that month. But she was confident that the new clients would come, and they did. By month three, she was already ahead. Luna: That takes guts. Not everyone can stomach a temporary thirty percent drop, even if it leads to a longer-term gain. Lucas: Right. She also had a backup plan — she took on a short-term project with a former client to bridge the gap. So it's not like she had zero income. It was a calculated risk. Luna: So for listeners who might be considering a similar move, what's the one piece of advice Sarah would give? Lucas: She says start with the client scorecard. Rate your clients on those five criteria. If any client scores low on three or more, especially on personal satisfaction and profit margin, that's a candidate. Then prepare a transition plan — don't just drop them. Offer referrals, give notice, and make the exit as smooth as possible. It preserves your reputation and makes you feel better about the decision. Luna: And when you do that, you're not just losing a client — you're creating space for something better. Speaking of which, I think there's actually a parallel here with how we run our own show. Lucas: Yeah? How do you mean? Luna: Well, we keep this podcast ad-free and listener-funded. A handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many episodes. It's a similar principle — we focus on creating value for the people who find it useful, rather than trying to please everyone. Lucas: That's a really good analogy. We could chase sponsors and ads, but then we'd have to cater to their demands. Instead, we rely on listeners who get genuine value from the show. If the freelance advice here has helped you think through a client decision like Sarah's, that's the kind of support that keeps the show independent. No pressure at all, but it's nice to know that a community exists. Luna: Exactly. And now back to Sarah — after she fired that difficult client and replaced them with two better ones, did she change anything else about how she operates? Lucas: She did. She added a late-payment fee clause in all her new contracts. She also shifted to a value-based pricing model instead of hourly. And she started vetting clients more carefully during the discovery call. She asks about their revision process, their payment timeline, and whether they're open to her strategic recommendations before she even sends a proposal. Luna: So the firing became a turning point not just in income, but in how she runs her entire business. It's like a reset. Lucas: Exactly. She told me that letting go of that one client gave her the confidence to set harder boundaries with everyone else. She's now at a point where she only takes clients who score high on her scorecard, and her income has been steadily growing at about twenty percent year over year since that change. Luna: That's inspiring. I think a lot of freelancers need to hear that it's okay to fire a client — and that it can actually be a growth strategy. Lucas: That's the key takeaway. It's not about being ruthless. It's about recognizing that your time and energy are finite resources, and the client who drains both is costing you more than their invoice is worth. Luna: Well said. Thanks for sharing Sarah's story. If any listeners have their own client firing story, we'd love to hear it. Lucas: Absolutely. For now, if you're sitting on a decision about a difficult client, take an hour this week to do that scorecard. You might be surprised what you find. Luna: And if you find the courage to let go, let us know how it goes. That's all for this episode. Keep building your best freelance career.