That consultant told me to fire my biggest client and I thought he was nuts

Last year I hired this B2B consultant from Chicago named Mark who specialized in service businesses. He looked at my client list and said I should drop my biggest account, the one bringing in 40% of my revenue. I almost laughed him out of the meeting. But he explained how that one client was eating up 70% of my team's time with constant revisions and late-night emails. For six months I ignored his advice and kept grinding, until my other clients started complaining about slow response times. Finally I let them go in January, and within 3 months I replaced that revenue with 3 smaller clients who actually pay on time and don't demand 10 rounds of changes. Has anyone else had a consultant give advice that sounded terrible but actually worked out?

3 comments

3 Comments

evahenderson1mo ago

Have you ever had a client that just takes and takes until you have nothing left for anyone else? I think you raise a fair point about the risk involved. But sometimes having that much business tied up in one person is a risk in itself. If that demanding client had left on their own, which they usually do eventually, it could have been a lot worse. I think Mark's advice worked because he saw the hidden costs that most of us ignore when we're scared to lose the money.

irisowens1mo ago

Hold on a minute. You fired 40% of your income over one consultant's advice? That's a huge gamble that could have put you under. Most small businesses would kill for a client that reliable even with the headaches. I guess it worked out okay for you, but that advice is not for everyone. For a lot of people, losing a big account like that means losing the ability to pay rent. It sounds like you had the cushion and the other work lined up, which is not really the norm. This feels like a case where the risk paid off, but I would not go telling others to do the same thing lightly.

phoenix_bailey1mo ago

Had a buddy who did this, dropped a client that was maybe half his income because they were just toxic all around. Took him like six months to get back to that same revenue level, but he said his stress dropped so much it was worth every penny. Idk, I think it really depends on how much you can ride out the quiet months while you rebuild.