Don't depend on one big client or two, like I did!
Back in my old corporate and sales days, we used to have a lot of conferences, team-building events, and stuff. That was interesting. You meet with your colleagues from all over the world and you talk. So, on one of these events I talk to a guy. He asked me how many clients I had at the moment. I said around 30. He was like, that was great. That was good for you. I wasn't so optimistic. Most of my customers at that moment were small and family-owned companies. That means lots of meeting. Calls. Visits. Orders. It was a logistic nightmare, to be honest.
Then he asked me, what is the ratio of the customers I lost and win over a year. I said it's not such a big deal. I lose a customer or two. It happens, but at the same time, I find two or three new ones over the same time period. So, I'm still good. Then he said, now you see why it's great to have small customers. You can never get in trouble. Guess, it was my turn to ask questions. To my huge surprise, he said that he had only one client. Then, he said the name of this client and everything become quite clear. This company had quite a reputation outside its national borders. I was totally honest. I would give all of my clients for this one. This guy in charge of this VIP client told me, I should think twice. If he loses this client, he loses everything. All I could say is that was not a very likely scenario.
In the meantime, I left the world of sales. I never saw that guy again. I only remember that in some newspapers I saw a news about that big company. It was a mess. Some corruption scandal. The owner had to flee the country. In a way, I felt sorry for that guy, but I had my own problems to worry too much about it. Then, after a couple of years, I reach a moment when I was supposed to write 5 blogs per day for one of my clients. This guy used to run 3 different websites. And, I write and uploaded 5 blog articles every single day, including the weekend, for more than a year.
At the beginning, it was tense because I had to work on this and my other projects. Yet, over the time, I completely focused on this one. At one moment, I completely stopped looking for new jobs. Just imagine a day. You need to write 5 blogs. There was a girl preparing the photos I was supposed to associate with them. I submitted them through WordPress. Just pressed a couple of buttons and they got shared on all social networks related to the main websites. The only condition I had, was to make sure that these 5 blogs are uploaded by midnight of the current day. That was all.
If you are asking me, that was one of the smoothest years in my life. Maybe, I could have earned more, if I were to work on additional projects. Yet, it was really hard to be motivated when you get regular weekly payments. You can guess what happened. It was inevitable. My client had to move with his family from Russia to Germany. That meant to end up with only one website and start paying some serious and regular taxes for the first time. I become the last point to care about at his business priority list. I needed a couple of days just to figure out what happened and hit me right in the head. Then, I needed a couple of months to get my freelance things in order. To find new clients and get back to my usual business. So, here I am when I was before. No big and regular clients. Guess, I am a busy freelance bee who has to fly from flower to flower restlessly.
It's not great, but it's OK. I'm in no danger to get burned by one or two VIP clients. Yet, if I'm to be completely honest I truly miss those careless days. Then, I remember what happened and how painful it was, and I miss them less. So, what is my word of advice? Well, it would be great if you could have one big and a couple of small clients on a regular basis. Yet, this ideal situation is very rare and almost an impossible one to happen. Right? Then, if I have to choose, I would do my best to stay as far as I can away from the big clients. You know how it goes, if you get too close to the sun you get burned, eventually. On the other hand, this life of a bee flying around in a constant fear and under the constant pressure of finding enough clients isn't a charming one, that's for sure. Is it still possible to have it both? What do you think? What do you prefer? To be dependent, but relaxed. or to be independent, but in a constant search for new work?
Then he asked me, what is the ratio of the customers I lost and win over a year. I said it's not such a big deal. I lose a customer or two. It happens, but at the same time, I find two or three new ones over the same time period. So, I'm still good. Then he said, now you see why it's great to have small customers. You can never get in trouble. Guess, it was my turn to ask questions. To my huge surprise, he said that he had only one client. Then, he said the name of this client and everything become quite clear. This company had quite a reputation outside its national borders. I was totally honest. I would give all of my clients for this one. This guy in charge of this VIP client told me, I should think twice. If he loses this client, he loses everything. All I could say is that was not a very likely scenario.
In the meantime, I left the world of sales. I never saw that guy again. I only remember that in some newspapers I saw a news about that big company. It was a mess. Some corruption scandal. The owner had to flee the country. In a way, I felt sorry for that guy, but I had my own problems to worry too much about it. Then, after a couple of years, I reach a moment when I was supposed to write 5 blogs per day for one of my clients. This guy used to run 3 different websites. And, I write and uploaded 5 blog articles every single day, including the weekend, for more than a year.
At the beginning, it was tense because I had to work on this and my other projects. Yet, over the time, I completely focused on this one. At one moment, I completely stopped looking for new jobs. Just imagine a day. You need to write 5 blogs. There was a girl preparing the photos I was supposed to associate with them. I submitted them through WordPress. Just pressed a couple of buttons and they got shared on all social networks related to the main websites. The only condition I had, was to make sure that these 5 blogs are uploaded by midnight of the current day. That was all.
If you are asking me, that was one of the smoothest years in my life. Maybe, I could have earned more, if I were to work on additional projects. Yet, it was really hard to be motivated when you get regular weekly payments. You can guess what happened. It was inevitable. My client had to move with his family from Russia to Germany. That meant to end up with only one website and start paying some serious and regular taxes for the first time. I become the last point to care about at his business priority list. I needed a couple of days just to figure out what happened and hit me right in the head. Then, I needed a couple of months to get my freelance things in order. To find new clients and get back to my usual business. So, here I am when I was before. No big and regular clients. Guess, I am a busy freelance bee who has to fly from flower to flower restlessly.
It's not great, but it's OK. I'm in no danger to get burned by one or two VIP clients. Yet, if I'm to be completely honest I truly miss those careless days. Then, I remember what happened and how painful it was, and I miss them less. So, what is my word of advice? Well, it would be great if you could have one big and a couple of small clients on a regular basis. Yet, this ideal situation is very rare and almost an impossible one to happen. Right? Then, if I have to choose, I would do my best to stay as far as I can away from the big clients. You know how it goes, if you get too close to the sun you get burned, eventually. On the other hand, this life of a bee flying around in a constant fear and under the constant pressure of finding enough clients isn't a charming one, that's for sure. Is it still possible to have it both? What do you think? What do you prefer? To be dependent, but relaxed. or to be independent, but in a constant search for new work?