I fired a $5k/month retainer client and took on a $2k/month project client instead

The retainer client gave me 30 hours of random tasks weekly but the project client paid per milestone and let me focus on real strategy, so after 6 months with the retainer I was burning out but with the project client I actually grew the agency by 40% - has anyone else dumped recurring revenue for better quality work?

2 comments

2 Comments

felix4781mo ago

Man that's such a counterintuitive move but I totally get it. Most people think recurring revenue is always better but they miss how bad work sucks the life out of everything else you do. Sometimes walking away from guaranteed money is the smartest growth play if it frees you up to actually build something real.

shanenguyen1mo ago

Whoa, nobody's talking about the referral pipeline angle here. With the retainer client, you probably couldn't send potential new clients to their office or show off complex strategy work. The $2k project lets you build a case study with real results. That portfolio piece alone could pull in way more than $5k monthly from better clients. Also, project clients tend to refer you to other project clients. Retainer clients often keep you in a hole.