When It's Not Worth It: How to Fire a Client

At some point in every business, conflict or issues arise with a client. The goal is to have these instances occur rarely and learn from them. Sometimes the best answer to the conflict or issues is firing the client--severing the business relationship. There is no need to stay on when you will not be giving 100% to this client due to the difficulty and thus bring down your business all the while. Many articles about the decision to fire a client list steps to take to fix a relationship first. If you want it to be a learning experience, go ahead and try those.
But if you just want to be as blissful as possible while running your business, the ONLY factor to consider is how much working with a client is costing you. In Tim Ferriss’ book, The 4-Hour Workweek, he states 20% of your clients take up 80% of your time and to consider firing them. He even explains how those 80% may actually be costing you money. Just like a problem client may cost you money, consider if they are costing you energy. If working with a client drains you to the point you are contemplating ways out, that’s the only indicator you need.

When you come to the conclusion you need to fire a client, there are three things to consider:

How to relay the message. Do this in the manner in which you typically communicate with this client: email, phone, in person, scheduled/unscheduled, etc. If you normally meet in person, you may not want to send an email but if you only ever communicate via email, then calling them would just be awkward.
What reason to give. There are several methods I like and you should choose the one that is the most honest:
We are taking the business in a different direction
We are raising prices (and raise them significantly enough to make them consider leaving or making it worth it to you for them to stay)
We are not in alignment.
These are good templates:
How to transition, if necessary. If the client has been abusive, end services right away. Otherwise, offer to transition in a manner conducive with your contract. Not specified in your contract? Offer to transition by a certain date.

Firing a client may not be easy. But at least in my experience, once the awkward conversation has occurred, it’s a feeling of relief. Dealing with a problem client is like a slow boil and takes a while to realize it’s not worth keeping them around.

There was one time where we had to fire a client right away due to abuse. Maybe we could have handled it better and they certainly reacted negatively, but as time has passed, we recovered. All things will pass and hopefully, as your business grows, you will get better about screening clients before taking them on. Thus firing clients will be rare and less painful as time goes on.

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