Heard a vendor at a local meetup say "stop selling to everyone" and it hit different

Last Tuesday I went to this small business mixer in Austin, just like 15 people in a coffee shop. This guy who runs a landscaping company, maybe 30 employees, was talking about how he cut his client list from 200 down to 80 over 2 years. He said his revenue actually went up 35 percent because he stopped chasing the cheap one-off jobs and focused on the folks who rebook every season. I've been taking every lead that comes in for my cleaning service, and honestly my schedule is a mess. Half the clients are one-time moves or people who haggle over $20. He made me realize I'm spending my weekend driving across town for tiny gigs when I could be building better relationships with the regulars. Has anyone else tried actually turning down bad-fit customers? I'm scared to lose the volume, but the math seems to make sense.

2 comments

2 Comments

lopez.quinn1mo agoMost Upvoted

Start by taking a hard look at your last 10 jobs and see which ones actually made you money after gas and time. I did this with my handyman side gig and found out the cheap jobs were costing me about $4 an hour once you added in drive time. Set a minimum job size and just politely say you're booked up when smaller stuff comes in. It feels weird at first, but the clients who respect your rates are also the ones who pay on time and don't call you at 9pm. You'll probably lose some volume, but your weekends will open up and you'll stop dreading the schedule.

wesley_adams29d agoMost Upvoted

The "clients who respect your rates" line hit me because it's the same everywhere, not just side gigs. I see it with people who always want favors or the cheapest option, they usually drain you in other ways too. Once you stop being the easy yes, the time wasters filter themselves out and you're left with people who actually value what you do.