I know for sure that a lot of you have been there, you have been designing a site for a week and a client just won’t stick to a layout, the client constantly asking for changes and just can’t make up his or her mind. If the pay is great, then you’re doing what you’re being paid to do, but more often then not during freelance work the wages just aren’t there and you have to make the decision whether this project is worth the time. Here are a few helpful questions you can ask yourself to make this decision.

Three Important Questions
The first question to ask is, “Will I be finishing this project before the expected deadline?” If the answer to this question is no, and you’re behind schedule you might need to re-assess what you are doing. The second question to ask is, “Am I being paid enough to make a decent profit, more than enough to cover expenses?” The third question to ask is, “Would I make more money with another client?”

Those three questions are important when making a decision to drop a project. Many times you can approach the client and explain that you are not making enough for the work you are doing and request that you be paid more or you will have to drop the project. Now, when I say drop the project I do not mean just take the clients money, design and files and run. If you make up your mind to drop a client there are another set of questions to ask yourself.

Before You Drop a Client
The first question to ask is, “Did I state that the deposit was non refundable?” The second question to ask is, “Am I far into this project where I can’t refund a deposit made?” The third question to ask is, “If I am too far into a project to refund the deposit, do I provide the client with a half finished product?”

If you stated that the deposit was non refundable, then you have more than likely already thought this out and made up your mind on what you do providing the project is not completed. As for the third question, if you didn’t state it was a non refundable deposit and you’re too far in to a project that it would be too great a loss then you must provide the clients with all completed work up until the point of project closure, if you don’t you are basically stealing their money (That is my opinion, it may not be yours).

Get Your Right Client
I hope you won’t have to make this decision, but if you do those questions should help you along. Remember, it’s the way you handle these situations that affects the future outcome of how you do. Word of mouth promotion is great, and having a satisfied client means that they’ll come back to have more work done and/or be there when you might need a hand. Keep that in mind.

Tags: business, communication, value, client relations, clients