I had been planning to leave the firm for months. I thought I was being careful. What I didn't know was that my boss could see every calendar event I thought was private (and he was looking 😂). He called me before I had a chance to tell him. I was employee number one. He had taught me everything I knew about the industry and software consulting. That's exactly why I couldn't tell him until I was sure. And it's probably why, when he handed me a few clients, his contracts and his way of working, I took all of it without ever asking if it was the business I actually wanted to build.
I was making more money, so I didn't take the space to decide if that model fit me. I carried the same number of clients that I had at the firm. I billed hourly. I turned work around fast. I took on the same kinds of projects. It didn't occur to me that I could make the same or more money working differently.
I don't blame myself for that, and if you're recognizing yourself here, I'd offer you the same grace. The model was profitable. It made sense to everyone around me. From the outside, it looked like everything was working.
But the way I was working slowly chipped away at my sanity.
Most of us are following rules we didn't intentionally set. You answer email at nine at night because your first manager did. You charge what everyone else charges because that's how you learned to set rates. Every project gets a weekly status call because every project you've ever worked on had one. Those choices answered the big questions for you: how available you'd be, what an engagement looks like, what you charge, what shape your week takes.
Eventually I rewrote my blueprint. The first thing I challenged was the assumption that I needed more clients and more hours to earn more. What I actually needed was more time to do better work, so I could charge more to the clients who needed me in the capacity where I work best. I got my sanity back. And my revenue jumped.
The first assumption question is how many clients you take on, and how deeply you engage with them.
Having a longer list of clients feels more successful. You've convinced more people you can help them. The calendar is full, the invoices are going out, the optics are good.
But when you're a soloist, a full roster has a cost. You're constantly context switching, splitting your attention, managing deadlines that all feel urgent at once. You risk doing mediocre work for many clients instead of excellent work for a few.
Most of us never questioned whether more clients equals more revenue. Fewer clients with longer, deeper engagements often earns the same or more, with less friction and better results.
So if this is something you’re looking to change, start here. Look at your current client portfolio and ask: which of these engagements actually make sense for the way you work best? Which ones would you restructure, or walk away from, if you were designing from scratch? What would it look like to do fewer things, better?
P.S. If you want help figuring it out, I've created a more accessible way to get my guidance. Together we can identify what needs to change and take the first steps, whatever part of your business you're ready to look at.
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