NFIB

Avoid the Pitfalls of Having One Account Take Up Too Much of Your Billing Time
04/ 15/ 2002


by Jeff Moses
Several years ago I ran into an outstanding opportunity in my career as a freelance writer and author of corporate biographies and life stories. I was contacted by the creative director of one of the large advertising agencies in my city. He asked if I would be interested in working on a book for a client. I jumped at the possibility, of course, because it would offer a long-term assignment.

The book was successful enough that the client hired me to do some marketing for him, and then to write another book. One thing led to another and soon I found myself spending almost all my billing time working on this good-sized account. Over the next year, I neglected to take the time to market my services to new potential clients. It was easier simply to work for the client I already had in hand.

I'm sure you can guess the result. I had too many eggs in one basket. Things went very well for a time, but then the client notified me that he was re-directing his attention to other business ventures and soon my services would no longer be required. We parted on good terms, after all, our relationship had been productive and professional, but I suddenly found myself scrambling for new accounts.

Some points to consider:

-- Remember that getting new clients up and running (which means you are working for them and billing them), can take a month, two months, or even longer. The marketing that you do today will yield results in the future, not immediately in most cases.

-- Experienced business owners do not take on a new client or account if the new work will take up too high a percentage of the company's total billing time. There is no set "rule-of-thumb" for what constitutes "too high a percentage." In general, it is best that no single account occupies more than 50% of your workload, and your billing. This is especially important if you have to take on added employees or added office space to accommodate a new account.

-- Always allocate a percentage of your time to marketing for new clients. This will assure that you never run into the wall and have no one to bill. If you're absolutely too busy to market, you don't have to worry, as long as you have an adequate mix of accounts and won't be caught short if one or two suddenly drop away.

-- Another disadvantage of having an account that's "Too Large," is that it breeds over-familiarity. You started your own business so that you could be your own boss. Having one large account will, in ways, put you right back into an "employed" situation, the client will begin making demands, and soon you'll be at someone else's beck and call. Always treat each account as though it's the only one you have. That special service will help your business grow. But let people know that you have other clients, too. You will gain more respect and be able to command the prices you deserve, and be paid more quickly.

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