Freelancing has its perks, but as everyone knows, there is never something that is completely without its problem.  One of the questions freelancers always have is “when should I not work with a client anymore.”  Even though the economy has slowed down, you still have to think about your happiness and comfort level when working with a client.  Here are three reasons to no longer work with a client:

1.  Does not want to pay for work you have done – This is an obvious reason.  I once worked with a client who wanted me to do some revision on a proposal that I had done because the contract representative had changed the work.  We agreed on the amount, and I did the revisions.  However, when it came time to pay me for the work, she refused indicating that it was part of the original contract.  They contacted me in May to do some work for them, and I refused.  I did not want to be put in that position again.

2. Constantly calls and emails when you are working on the project – If you are unable to do your work because you are too busy answering your client’s emails and calls, then maybe this isn’t the relationship that you want to have. A client should trust you enough to perform the work. It’s a stressful situation to be in when you feel you are constantly having to reassure someone that you will get the work done on time and with no errors. Additionally, you won’t be able to produce the level of work you probably would have because all of your time is being spent talking to the client.

3. Wants you to perform work that is out of your scope and gets upset when you tell him/her that – If you are constantly being asked to do work that is out of the scope of the original work, then you don’t want to work with that person.  I once had a client contact me three weeks after the work was done to zip a file for him.  Furthermore, he called me on Sunday morning to do this work while not even thinking about compensating me.  I zipped the file for him, but I let him know that this is not in my line of work.  He then got upset and didn’t contact me again.

You have to be happy to freelance.  If you feel like someone is causing you to lose that, then it’s time to reconsider your relationship with that person.

Tags: client, clients, freelance work, freelancing, list, lists, reconsider keeping a client