Being a small business owner comes with its share of "when to say when" moments. There seems to be a new one every week:
When do I give in a hire someone to help me out?
When have I had enough with my ol' faithful piece of crap computer?
When is it time to give up on filing my desktop madness and throw it all into one big "Desktop Bankruptcy" folder?
But the most important one is when to take a stand, when it comes to your clients.
Clients after all, are the lifeblood of the small business. They are "our new boss" no matter which way you slice it. I rant continuously on the way designers take criticism and what's more, the way we treat a client who isn't fond of something we've done. After all, when you put your time, heart and soul into something, it can't be wrong right? That's rarely the case and deep down we know it.
But I'm talking about a larger issue. If you have a client that does not treat you or your employees with respect, when is it time to say, "It's no longer beneficial, for me to work with this client, unless the communication changes." I think the answer lies somewhere in between the extremes.
More often than not, this point comes too quickly for designers, and ego and pride get in the way of serving our customers well. Our function as designers is not simply to make beautiful visual communication, but to communicate on the behalf of others, which involves (you guessed it) listening to those "others."
This is why we are small business owners. This is paramount to why your small business will succeed or fail. It's the delicate balance of choosing your words wisely, choosing your battles, and choosing when to say when. The number one goal is not to see how many clients you can "fire," but to show your clients through your own respect and grace, how both parties should treat one another. Try, try and try again. And, if they continue to be treat you poorly or question your integrity, then trust your motives, trust your company purpose, and move on.
