Losing a Client Doesn’t Make Me a Loser
Posted on Nov 17, 2011 in Business Basics | 20 comments
I lost a client a couple of weeks ago. Not my biggest one but a big one for sure. Nearly a third of my income went poof because they couldn’t afford to keep me on any longer. It happens to best of us. What I didn’t appreciate was the fact that I’m sure they knew for about a month that my time with them was coming to an end and they neglected to tell me, even when I had what I thought was a candid conversation about the future of this three year project.
It actually reminded me of the time I worked for a popular breakfast buffet restaurant during college. There were rumors that our location was closing but management kept denying it. One morning, we didn’t have any eggs to serve on our breakfast buffet because the store hadn’t ordered any. Still, management denied we were closing. I even walked in on my GM packing up stuff in the pantry. He told me he was just organizing. Two days later, we walked into our shifts and were handed a notice that the store was closing.
Of course, this situation was a little different. I’m an independent contractor with that company. They don’t owe me anything other than to pay me according to our contract. Maybe my point of contact didn’t know what was going on with the company. Or maybe she did and just couldn’t tell me. It just would have been nice to get a heads up.
I Know I’m Not Alone
It’s not a new story. I’ve actually talked to a number of friends and colleagues in the same situation. Some of them lost clients that were closer to 90 percent of their monthly income. Some of them live alone and don’t have a traditionally employed husband to pick up the slack. Many of us just spent all of our savings moving to one of the most expensive cities in the world and spend our nights staring at our bank balances and crying into our red velvet cupcakes. (Ok. Maybe that’s just me.)
In fact, if you’re a freelancer who networks with freelancers, you’ll hear this story over and over again your entire career. Because this is what freelancing is like. Clients will come and go for many reasons. Some of them are beyond your control and even the best, highest paid and most established freelancers in the business have to accept the cyclic nature of our work.
Dear Self: Enough With the Name Calling
When I first heard the news, I panicked a bit. Then I started berating myself for not being smart enough and psychic enough to see this thing coming. Then I felt like a loser because I was doing so well and losing a third of your income overnight is the opposite of doing well in my book. It took me a few days to snap out of it but I’ve finally come full circle. Today, I can confidently say that losing a client doesn’t make me a loser. It just means that for whatever reason, I wasn’t a good fit for that project at the time. Because, you know, I want to get paid and they don’t have any money to pay me.
We talk about treating our freelance careers like a business. Well, McDonalds doesn’t beat itself up if you’re not interested in a McRib. It just comes up with something that it thinks you will like and does its damnedest to try to sell it to you. (I hate oatmeal. I wouldn’t be surprised if McDonalds’ oatmeal had the same amount calories as two Big Macs. Yet, it takes everything in me not to try their oatmeal because they keep offering it to me in a compelling way.)
You’re not McDonalds but you’re the CEO of Awesomepants Writing. And if you’ve lost a client or revenue stream lately, it’s not over until the fat lady sings. So, put down that Ben and Jerry’s or Jack Daniels (whatever your poison of choice) and join me in saying the following mantra:
Photo Credit: Loser by Choking Sun
20 Comments
It is definitely hard to lose a regular gig. One of my blogging gigs came to an abrupt end around this time last year, which was rough. It wasn’t a big part of my income, but I’d enjoyed the work and was sorry to see it go. I subscribe to your newsletter, so I’m definitely interested in your thoughts on becoming bulletproof,
Mahesh Raj Mohan recently posted..Freelance Writer: My 7×7 Links Post
Well I hope I explained my plan in depth in the newsletter. It’s all stuff I should have been doing in the first place but it never hurts to get back on track.
You did indeed answer it, and your plan of attack was excellent, and gave me many ideas, as well.
Rock on, Princess Jones!
Mahesh Raj Mohan recently posted..Freelance Writer: Guest Posting … Again!
In 12-plus years, I’ve lost so many clients I don’t remember them all. The ones that stung, the five-figure clients, were all circumstances beyond my control: a few of them fell on hard business times or went bankrupt, sometimes business dried up when my primary contact left, some hired a FT employee for a fraction of what I was charging.
I’ve only lost one big client in all these years because of my own failings. It was a business screw-up, had nothing to do with the writing/creative side of things.
The key to surviving for me has been diversifying the industries and types of media I work in. If any single client started to consume 25% or more of my time, it would be a danger signal. In fact, I recently turned down a huge project for precisely that reason–it would have required a commitment that I wasn’t willing to make.
Jake P recently posted..Phoenix web content writer wanted
My goal for 2012 is to put them closer to 20 percent per client so I can avoid this in the future. I’m hoping anyway.
I lost a big client this year that was 43 percent of my income. It seemed like it was really ratcheting up, and yet, it was closing down and I wasn’t aware. I felt silly for not knowing what everyone else seemed to find obvious. But I wasn’t silly—I was just kept in the dark. It was tough, though, and I am still working to recover. I’ll get there!
Good luck, Sarah. I’m bulletproofing my business for 2012 with a few steps I already knew about but had lost focus in the early part of the year. Won’t happen again. (Not the losing a client part. That’s going to happen over and over again. I mean me losing sight of the forest because the trees are in the way.)
I fired a client this year and of course, my income really dropped off. Then something very unexpected took its place. Overall, though, I’m like Jake – can’t even keep track of who I’ve won and lost over the years. It’s a transient business.
This post did remind me of when I worked for Intel in the 80s in a small division. They were folding up divisions right and left and moving them to Oregon, Arizona, etc. They swore up and down they wouldn’t move us and then BAM! – we got folded. They wanted all of us to relocate to Oregon with a very nice move package. Some people took it; I didn’t. Then BAM! – not that long of a time later, a bunch of them got laid off in a place where there was only one other tech employer (at the time). Everything in our careers is a calculated risk.
Claire Wagner recently posted..[blogging advice for nonprofits]
Jeez, I bet those people stranded in Oregon were pretty pissed, huh?
Been there! Not that this is helpful for you now as you’re reeling from the news, but this is why I 1) try not to let one client take up too much of my income in case that relationship goes south or the work dries up (plus, I think it’s more interesting to work on a variety of projects at once) and 2) try to maintain a healthy cushion in my savings account. Not just in case I lose a client unexpectedly but also because clients don’t always pay on time. I’m sure you’ll bounce back from this, though.
Both of those are two best practices I have but with the recent move and all the extra drama around here, I let them get away from me. That’s okay. This will serve as a reminder of what lazy gets me for future reference.
In the last year and a half or so, I lost a few clients and had a few more significantly reduce the work they sent me, all because of budget freezes or other cost-cutting measures (like newsletters going from monthly to quarterly). It was bad financially, but fortunately, all of those clients were nice enough to tell me that it wasn’t because of the quality of my work, and two of them told me a few months in advance.
But one of those clients who cut back their contract work is back, and with a vengeance! My editor finally has a freelance budget again, and after a year of having to get all the writing done himself, he’s taking full advantage of those funds. So that’s a nice surprise!
Julie Nilson recently posted..If the Networks Only Listened to Me
Good point, Julie. I’ll keep my eyes open for surprises.
First: mmmm, red velvet.
I hear you on losing clients being crappy – but as usual, you’re so right; it’s just part of the business. You know what, too? When you lose a client for the right reasons (like they ran out of money, not because you suck!), they’ll likely come back to you if things pick up again. Keep ‘em on your Christmas card list, for sure.
Red velvet cures all.
And I am keeping them on my marketing list because the moment they get some money, I want to them to say “We gotta call, Princess.”
Unfortunately for freelancers, it’s a “work related hazard”.
When all else fails, pray.
Jennifer Brown Banks recently posted..What I learned From Casing the Competition!
If only it came with hazard pay….:)
Thank you for publishing this post. I’ve been on a self-induced break from all of my freelance writing for going on six months now, due to my pregnancy (extreme exhaustion and doctor-ordered reprieve from any possible sources of stress or additional tiredness). Prior to my sudden vacation-of-sorts, I contacted my clients about me taking the break, and they all seemed more than supportive, as they were witnessing first hand what the pregnancy s doing to my concentration skills…not to mention my turnaround times. ANYWAY, I’m now feeling up to getting back into the freelance game (at least part-time), but I’ve been too cowardly to contact my previous clients for fear they’ve changed their minds and are now done with me. After reading your post, I think I might be able to actually contact them. You’ve reminded me that even though it will bum me out quite a bit to find I’ve lost a client (or two or three), life and business really will go on. Even if I have to start from scratch–I’ve been there and done that, and I can do it again.
That’s what I tell myself all the time. I’d wish you luck but luck has nothing to do with it. I wish you persistence and follow-through.
I just lost a client today. It was in the field of psychology, when I had primarily been writing in the fields of finance and business. I felt and feel a little bad about it. But I am planning to leave anyway.