When it’s Okay to Turn Down a Client

This is a topic in business that I don’t think is talked about enough.

It can be tempting to accept every job offer that comes your way, I get it. It’s exciting when potential clients reach out expressing to work with you or maybe you think you need the money. But saying yes to every offer isn’t necessarily a good thing. In fact, it can hurt your business. You only have so much capacity, so you want to leave room for your ideal client.

Here are reasons you can turn down a client:

The company doesn’t reflect your brand

This one is tough. There are brands that can throw a lot of $$ at you and it’s very tempting to say yes. But if the company does not reflect your brand, you have to say no. For example, I’ve had marijuana companies reach out to me before that have offered to pay me well. However, I don’t smoke marijuana so it just doesn’t make sense to promote it on my channels.

The company doesn’t align with your values

Going back to the marijuana example. Promoting marijuana don’t align with my personal values so again, I would have to politely decline a partnership like this. Not to say that this wouldn’t be a fit for somebody else, it’s just not a fit for me.

If the company has sketchy communication skills

Communication is very important in any business relationship and the way that people communicate needs to be taken into consideration from the very beginning. I’ve had some interesting interactions where I had a company reach out that would never want to talk on the phone and ignore my calls. I’ve also experienced companies that are very vague when communicating what their expectations were.

If the company possesses some major red flags

I’ve seen it all. I had a company where the owner messaged me 24/7. I would go work out for an hour and come back to several messages from them. I’ve also experienced micro managers and demanding brands. If you have a bad feeling about working with someone right from the get go, trust me, it is not worth it.

If the company has unrealistic asks

If they don’t want to respect your rates or your time, but expect you to do the same standard of work than it is not a good fit. What’s interesting to me is that I find some of the bigger, most established companies can be this way. And the little guys are the ones who are willing to compensate you for your time. Not always, but I do see this a lot.

There we have it! The last piece of advice I’ll give you is, if it just DOESN’T FEEL RIGHT, listen to your intuition. You’ll thank me later.

-Jenna xoxo