Hey freelance friend!
Remember I recently mentioned losing one of my favorite clients when they laid off their entire content team? Turns out they weren’t just one of my faves - they were also a huge chunk of my 2025 revenue…20% to be exact!
I realized this when pulling together some tax details for my accountant last week. My work with the client had gone down a bit at the end of the year, so when I got the email that they were cutting off their content projects, it didn’t feel like a lot of revenue to make up.
But when I was doing client-by-client math for my 2025 numbers, I was surprised at how much those projects added up last year. 20% isn’t catastrophic, but it is enough to matter.
And that’s always the risk when you find a great-paying client who sends you a comfortable amount of work. You won’t say no, but it starts to add a little bit of risk to your diversification.
Replacing 20% of last year’s income is totally doable, but I’m glad that’s all it was. This experience is a great reminder for all of us to not just track revenue numbers, but also client concentration.
If you work with multiple clients, take a quick 10 minutes this week and calculate what percentage of your income your largest client represents.
I recommend doing this both by month and by year, especially if your assignments fluctuate. That number gives you a sense of how much you’d need to quickly replace if you unexpectedly lose that client. If it feels uncomfortable, consider working on landing a new client or two now, in order to build yourself a cushion in your monthly earnings.
Stay tuned next week, where I’ll share what I’ve been doing the last month (on top of my LinkedIn profile makeover) and what results I’ve seen.
In the meantime, I’m trying to better understand where everyone is in their freelance journey. Would you mind answering this quick poll so I can make this newsletter as helpful as possible?
What feels harder right now?
Thank you so much! I hope you have a wonderful week in freelancing and beyond. ❤
Lauren
