Dotty Scott talks with a collaborator about why saying no to the wrong clients matters. After 15 years of video work, Scott learned that firing a bad-fit client felt like relief. The advice: let people opt out early so you protect your business and your confidence.
Um, when I started my video adventure 15+ years ago, uh, some of the, the criticisms, criticisms and comments that I received, um, was about how I spoke, how I dressed, how I looked, all of that stuff. Um, and I realized that how they wanted things to be would not attract my clients, but it would attract people like them that I didn't wanna work with. Yes.
I'm gonna— this is a thing I preach all the time, Dotty, and I'm so sorry I cut you off. I'm— that is perfect. I preach, whether it's with my freelancers, entrepreneurs, whatever you're doing, get people to, to the no. Don't just get 'em to yes, but get people to no. Because why do you want all this noise over here? It— people who don't— aren't gonna work well with you. Why do you want that? Because you're either gonna end up signing them as clients and it's gonna be like pulling teeth on both sides because you don't work well together. You're not the right people to work together, or they're just cluttering up your space and eventually they're gonna start saying negative things and that's going to affect your own self-confidence. So get 'em out of the way early. Like let them know you're not for them. Like let them decide that, you know, don't, don't try to push people away, but let them go to no. No is an okay, you know what I mean? No is an absolutely beautiful gift for someone to give you.
So that is one of the hardest lessons to learn as a business owner is that you do not want every single client. No. And the very first time I fired a client was relieving. It felt so freeing that, you know, you are so right.
