Before you gasp & slam your laptop shut, bear with me. I promise I’m not crazy… well, only a little crazy:)
As a disclaimer – let me start by saying there are exceptions to everything. If a potential client is asking you to do something against your morals or standard of ethics, you should never work with them – ideal or not. If a potential client is abusing their relationship with you, you should seek legal counsel as to how to end your working relationship. It’s also never acceptable for a client to try to haggle your prices or force you to offer services that do not align with your business model.
There are exceptions to everything, and I do not want you to think I am telling you to take every paying client in the first year.
As long as a client does not fit one of the criteria above, I do think it’s appropriate to take clients who are not-so-ideal in year one. Here are 3 Reasons why:
In Year One of your business, you are still learning who is (& who is not) your ideal client.
It’s important to take risks – to learn & grow. For example, you may be a hand-letterer. You never thought you would design logos but someone approaches you about hiring you for that service. You do it & in return find that you love the process of logo design!! Or maybe the opposite happens & you find that it will not be a service you offer again! By taking on that client, you are able to try your hand at a new service & determine whether or not it should be one you offer.
In Year One of your business, you’re building a portfolio AND you’re building experience.
We tend to forget about the experience part of the equation. Do we want to have a portfolio that speaks to our ideal client? Absolutely! But we also have to realize that some of those not-so-ideal client situations are the ones that bring us the most experience. For wedding planners, planning a wedding with more challenging logistics can teach us so much about what to do next time we’re in a similar situation. For photographers, capturing a wedding with a tighter timeline can give you experience for when & if that time comes again. We have to have the not-so-ideal experiences to be better prepared for all the experiences in the future.
In Year One of your business, you’re pinching pennies & building that business checking account.
8 out of 10 businesses fail in the first 18 months. Of those, 50% fail in the first 5 years. Those statistics can be a little scary, can’t they? In Year One (and even into year Two, Three, Four, Five & so on…) there will come moments when we have to remember that we’re a business. Yes, we are doing what we do because we love it & that never means we should be taken advantage of or put in a comprising position (remember those disclaimers above). However you’re business needs to be sustainable. You need to make a profit & that means bringing in revenue – revenue that can come in the form of not-so-ideal clients.
What do you think? Have you worked with a not-so-ideal client for any of the above reasons?
xo! kat
Agree here! During year one, two, and even into year three so much will evolve and change. You might think you know your ideal client and service, but you will learn and grow from each experience in those first building years to find what truly fires you up and when to say no moving forward. <3 Love that you are shedding light here!
Thanks for this, Kat! Since I’m in year one, I sometimes feel like I’m on the off the track I need to be on with regards to the types of clients/projects I’m taking. I am finding everything you said is 100% true for me so far. I couldn’t have put this into words!
I couldn’t agree more! I am going into year 2 of business and I feel like there has been this pressure from industry professionals to “give yourself permission” to say no to not-so-ideal clients. But I can honestly say that in my first 2 years of business I have learned so much by having a variety of clients AND my idea of my ideal client has completely changed since when I started. So I will continue to accept a variety of clients until I really develope my unique style.