Should Small Businesses Take All Clients?

Small business owners often fall into a quandary. If they sign all potential clients, they will have income to cover their bills, but what if the money isn’t worth the aggravation? In those cases, it makes sense to let go of those clients. This debate has come up during B.O.S.S. Academy Phoenix Fridays Leadership Power Hour. Here are reasons why letting go of clients could be a good move.

1. Health – Often, problem clients leads to health issues for small business owners. They lose sleep at night. They are stressed. They do not have joy in their work environment. They could overeat and gain weight, or they could not eat at all and lose too much weight. Letting go of these problem clients could alleviate many of these health conditions.
2. New Clients – Letting go of problem clients could lead to getting a better client. In some cases, you are putting your time and effort into satisfying clients who do not want to be satisfied that you are not going after clients who might be ideal. Reclaiming this time will allow you to go after better clients. You might end up with two better clients to replace the one you lost. Financially, this is a better scenario.
3. Failure to Pay – Clients who cause headaches for business owners also tend to withhold payment for various reasons. It could be the client blames the company for mistakes or problems. It could be they do not have income of their own to pay the small business. It could be they do not want to fulfill their terms of a contract. If small business owners aren’t getting paid anyway, why would they keep the problem clients?
4. Economics – There are times when clients cost too much to make financial sense. Rising costs of materials or projects taking too long to complete can cause an uneven cost/income split. Clients might ask for changes that could cost more than was originally budgeted, which could hurt the small business owner. Letting go of these clients might hurt financially, but in the long run, would balance out the initial loss.
5. Legal Issues – Clients can cause legal issues for the business owner. If clients are doing unethical things, it could affect the small business owner. Clients might not like what businesses have done and sue the company. Clients also can ask for work that goes against regulation or laws. To avoid legal issues, it is best to end these relationships.