Don’t Count Your Chickens

How many times have you been in this situation? You’ve talked to a potential client, who is enthusiastic about your services and promises to hire you. You sit back in your office chair, feeling smug about having landed another job and rearrange your diary to make space for this lucrative new commission. Then … nothing. The client goes quiet on you. You wonder what’s going on and chase the client. Still nothing. Instead of feeling smug you start to panic about the hole in your diary and your bank balance.

Even when you know better, it’s difficult to always get it right. I had an IM conversation with a prospective client that lasted one and half hours, so that we could establish exactly what was needed. At the end of the conversation, there were potentially three projects instead of one, all of them reasonably well paid. I did my part and waited for the client to do his. I’m still waiting. He may eventually get his act together, but who knows?

When I first started freelancing, I learned the hard way that clients’ schedules don’t always match my own. That means it’s better to keep slightly too much in the diary and have some trusted friends you can call upon if you need to outsource. If all the work comes in at once, then you need to prioritise. I tend to look at how much jobs pay and how easy they are to do to guide me in planning my packed work day.

I’m not going to wait around for this client. If the job works out, then I’ll see where I can fit it in. If not, I try to keep my income sources diverse. That means that I have three regular gigs from a couple of long term clients, and a fair bit of other work coming in from clients I’ve cultivated in the last six months. I keep bidding so that I don’t find myself with an unwanted gap. I’ve often said that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. The case of my disappearing client illustrates why diversity is a good idea.