Originally published on mrpurple.com.au.

Every business has one.

The client who rings at 7.45 on a Sunday. The one who wants a discount, then another discount, then asks why the work is taking so long. The one whose name pops up on your phone and makes the whole team go suspiciously quiet.

Most owners put up with them for years. Because money is money. Because it feels rude. Because what if word gets around?

Here is the uncomfortable truth. Some clients cost you more than they pay you.

And sometimes the kindest thing for everyone, including them, is a polite parting of the ways.

The real cost of the wrong client

The invoice tells you what a client pays. It does not tell you what they cost.

Add up the extra emails. The meetings that run over. The work redone three times because the brief changed on the way out of the door. The time your team spends dreading the next call, and the good people who quietly start looking at job ads because of it.

Then think about what that same time and energy could do with a client who values you, pays on time and says thank you occasionally.

Very often the big client turns out to be your least profitable one. They just make the most noise.

How to spot a client who is not a fit

It is rarely one dramatic moment. It is a pattern. Look out for:

• Constant pressure on price, no matter what you deliver.
• Scope that keeps growing while the fee stays still.
• Disrespect for your team, your time or your boundaries.
• Invoices that need chasing every single month.
• Work that pulls you away from the kind of business you actually want to run.

One of these on a bad week is just life. Several of them, every week, is a sign.

Before you break up, try fixing it

Not every difficult client is a lost cause. Sometimes the relationship has drifted because nobody set it up properly in the first place.

Try a reset conversation. Be honest and specific. “We have noticed the scope has grown a lot since we started. Let’s sit down and agree what we are doing, and what it costs.”

Put boundaries in writing. Response times, working hours, what is included and what is extra.

Review your pricing. If a client takes twice the effort, they may need to pay twice the price. Some will happily agree. Which tells you something too.

If things improve, wonderful. You have turned a headache into a decent client. If they do not, you have your answer.

How to end it well

Breaking up with a client does not need to be dramatic. No slammed doors, no strongly worded emails composed at midnight.

Give plenty of notice. Enough for them to find someone else without any harm to them or the people they look after. This matters especially in sectors like NDIS, aged care and allied health, where a gap in service affects real people.

For an NDIS business, this might mean planning the handover early, keeping the conversation clear and protecting continuity for participants. That is a business leadership question, not a reason to improvise about obligations. If the commercial side of these decisions keeps landing on your desk, NDIS business coaching can help you build clearer client boundaries and a calmer decision process.

Keep it simple and kind. You do not need to list every grievance. “We have realised we are not the best fit for what you need, and we want to make sure you are well looked after” is honest and professional.

Help with the handover. Offer to share agreed notes, introduce another provider where appropriate or answer questions during the transition. It costs you very little and it protects your reputation far better than staying in a bad relationship ever would.

Then let it go. Resist the urge to explain yourself three more times.

What happens next

Owners who do this almost always say the same two things afterwards.

First: “I wish I had done it sooner.”

Second: “Where did all this time come from?”

Freeing up that space lets you look after your good clients better. It lifts your team. And it makes room for the clients you actually want, the ones who fit your values, value your work and make Monday mornings feel a little bit lighter.

You chose your business. You are allowed to choose who you work with too.