Keeping your freelancing roster full–but not too full–can be a delicate balancing act. If you work exclusively with one or two clients, your workload will be more stable and you’ll have less difficulty juggling deadlines (assuming your clients are reasonable), but you’ll have to manage the risk that one will abruptly drop out, leaving you with a significant gap in your income.
On the other hand, if you fill your roster with 6-10 ongoing clients or take on several one-offs each month in addition to your regular roster, you’re better insured against a gap in income. But, you may also feel like you’re being pulled in a dozen different directions. The pressure of competing deadlines and answering to multiple clients can be stressful enough that it creates inefficiencies, aggravating the difficulty of managing deadlines.
Like nearly everything else in business, the best solution to this conundrum depends in part on you, your preferences, your strengths and weaknesses, and your client relationships. Continue reading “Managing Multiple Clients as a Freelancer”