I'm the bottleneck and I know it. Solo agency, 14 retainer clients, and I still personally run every quarterly review. I raised prices last year — grandfathered everyone at the old rate because I felt bad asking — and the two clients I actually wanted to keep are the ones that just left. I keep thinking the fix is better systems but maybe the fix is fewer clients. I don't know what to cut first.
Client delivery: do I let go of my own clients?
What a useful answer should help achieve
Decide which clients to cut or reprice and how to do it without blowing up the relationships I still have.
Already tried
Raised prices on new clients only, grandfathered existing retainers at the old rate.
Constraints and unknowns
All the delivery runs through her own hours, and she can't tell which clients are actually profitable.
Agency Owner · Expert-Service Firms · Established Solo · This snapshot stays with the question when the author updates their profile.3 replies
Audience: Public. Replies follow this audience.
Accepted answer
0Saoirse ByrneOperations Consultant · self-paced courseIreland·Established Solo·6d ago
Start with the reviews, not the clients. Put all fourteen on the same cycle and let the ones who object to a group call self-select out. You'll lose two or three. The ones who stay are the ones who can work without you in the room.
Why the asker chose this: This is the one I am acting on — thank you.
0Wei GohFreelance Designer · sponsorship & adsSingapore·Early Revenue·6d ago
You already did the hard part pricing the new ones. If you want a repeatable way to package and sell the delivery, happy to show you how I set mine up.
0Aroha NgataCourse Creator · membershipNew Zealand·Growing Team·6d ago
Just cut the bottom three and move on.
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