Fire Your Bad Clients

Low-profitability clients. If you're not generating money -- or much money -- from some of your customers, then you're on the losing end of a bad relationship. You only have so many hours in the day to work on your business, so make them count. Only work with clients with whom you'll enjoy a good return on your invested time.

Complainers. Ever feel drained at the end of the day because you had to deal with complaining clients who never seem satisfied? It's not worth it! It's time to say good riddance and work with those people who truly appreciate what you do and are willing to pay for what you provide without complaining!

"Something for nothing" clients. Get rid of those customers who always want something but don't want to pay for it. They don't value what you have to offer, and you constantly have to justify your prices. If they don't value you now, they never will, and you'll constantly be justifying the work you do and the prices you charge. Only work with those people who understand the value you have to offer and will appreciate it.

Time wasters. If you're spending time with clients who waste your time because they're never ready or aren't willing to listen to your advice, run now. These will be the ones that will constantly assume more of your time without providing anything in return and then will wonder why they're paying you. You can't help those who don't help themselves.

As you take a long, hard look at your goals for the year, make sure that one of them is to run your business more efficiently, especially when it comes to managing your money. One of the ways you can do that is to more effectively manage your clients. So look at your customer profitability for 2006, and decide which clients you're going to fire to improve your 2007. It'll be one of the smartest moves you make.