Why Relying on One Freelance Client Can Put Your Business at Risk
Landing a great freelance client can feel like you’ve finally made it. The work is steady, the money is good, and you can stop worrying about where your next project is coming from.
But there’s a dangerous side to that kind of stability.
In this episode of The Freelance Insider Show, Al Calder shares a hard lesson from his own freelance career: how relying on a single client for most of his income left him vulnerable when that client suddenly disappeared.
The lesson isn’t that repeat clients or retainers are bad. They’re valuable. The problem is putting too much of your freelance income in one basket. Al explains how he manages that risk today by maintaining a multiple client pipeline, continuing outreach, and keeping his pipeline active—even when business is going well.
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What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- Why relying too heavily on one freelance client can be dangerous
- What happened when Al lost a client that was paying him $2,000 a week
- Why a client’s circumstances can change without warning
- How multiple retainer clients can provide greater stability
- Why freelancers should continue building their client pipeline even when business is good
- How setting boundaries can protect your freelance business
- Why you shouldn’t let one “dream client” become your entire business
- How diversifying your client base can reduce the impact of losing a major client
Episode Transcript
Why Can Relying on One Freelance Client Be Dangerous?
[0:00] Your repeat clients are the most dangerous thing to your freelance career. The experts tell you that having clients on retainer is the holy grail of freelancing, and it can be, but most freelancers get it all wrong when they’re starting out. They make one simple mistake that no one tells you how to fix that can cost you everything. I
[0:16] know because I made this same mistake myself, and I nearly walked away from freelancing for good. Welcome back to the Freelance Insider Show. I’m Al Calder, and in these next few minutes, I’ll tell you exactly why having clients on retainer can be a huge threat to your freelance success. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but stay with me. It
[0:35] will make sense by the end of this video. Let’s get into it. If there’s one lesson I want you to take away after watching this video, it’s this. Relying too much on work from any one client can cost you everything. I know because about 4 years in my freelance career, it happened to me.
What Happens When a Freelancer Loses Their Only Major Client?
[0:51] I had one client that was giving me more work that I could handle. My bank account had never looked healthier. I stopped looking for other clients because I didn’t need any other clients.
[1:00] And then, it all went away. The client goes to me out of the blue, nothing.
[1:05] From $2,000 a week to $0 going into my bank account. And the one thing that was worse than losing all of my freelance income overnight, there were no warning signs. There wasn’t a gradual slow down in work. I simply turned in my latest milestone, thanked the client for the work, and asked them for details on the next project. I waited another day, set
[1:24] a follow-up, dead silence. Crickets in my inbox. I tried reaching out with three more messages over the next week or so, but I never heard back from that client again. You have to understand, you never know what’s going on in a client’s life, right? That client that you were dealing with, they might have been the marketing manager at a company.
[1:41] Perhaps they were fired. The new marketing manager takes over, they have no idea who you are. Or perhaps they have their own people that they work with. They have no interest in working with you. Perhaps that company suddenly went out of business. They went bankrupt. You You no control over the world that your client lives in. You
[1:57] only have control over the world that you live in, the world that you exist in. The lesson I really learned is this.
Why Should Freelancers Avoid Depending on One Client?
[2:03] It’s easy to get comfortable with one client, especially when they have tons of work, but that’s a mistake. These events happened to me more than four years into my freelance journey. I should have known better, but I’d never ran into something like that before.
[2:16] That was eight years ago. I have never made the same mistake again. Now, I keep a steady stream of three to four clients on retainer at all times. I balance the amount of work that comes from each client, never relying too much on one client at all. On top of that, I’m always finding more clients. I’m always doing outreach to keep that pipeline
[2:34] full. Losing one of your main clients may hurt, and it may take time to replace that income, but it’s a lot easier on your pocketbook than trying to replace your only client that disappears instantly.
How Can Freelancers Reduce the Risk of Losing a Major Client?
[2:46] Don’t ever let yourself get into that position. Don’t ever let yourself get into the type of position that I was in eight years ago. Always establish your boundaries early on with clients, and don’t offer to take on more than you can handle. Explain to them that you have other clients, and that you’d like to balance it for your own protection and
[3:01] for their protection.
What Should Freelancers Do When a Client Doesn’t Respect Their Boundaries?
[3:03] If they’re not good with that, then move on. It doesn’t matter how big of a client they are. They may seem like the dream client, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned as a freelancer, you never put all of your eggs in one basket, no matter how good the work seems, no matter how important the client is. Keep the pipeline full,
[3:21] and you will succeed as a freelancer.
[3:23] Share this with someone that needs to hear it.
[3:25] Don’t forget to subscribe to the Freelance Insider Show wherever you get your podcast.