The Cheap Client Tax
Most consultancy owners think cheap clients are a necessary evil.
You take them on because you need the work.
Because the pipeline is quiet.
Because saying no feels risky.
But here's what's quietly killing your margins:
Cheap clients are the most expensive clients you'll ever work with.
I call it the Cheap Client Tax.
And it shows up everywhere.
It's the scope creep that never gets charged.
The variation that felt too awkward to raise.
The invoice that sits unpaid for 60 days.
The Sunday night phone call that somehow became normal.
It's the hours your team spends managing the relationship.
The re-work from unclear briefs.
The meetings that go nowhere.
The constant pressure to do more for less.
And then there's the hidden cost that no one ever even realises.
The lost opportunity cost.
Every hour you and your team spend servicing a cheap, high-maintenance client is an hour you're not spending on A-grade clients.
Clients who pay on time.
Clients who respect your expertise.
Clients who send referrals.
Clients who make your business genuinely enjoyable to run.
Here's what we saw consistently as we grew our engineering & built environment consultancy:
The clients who pushed hardest on price upfront caused the most problems throughout.
And the clients who never questioned our fees were the ones who valued us most — and gave us the best work.
It took us longer than it should have to join those dots.
So if you're sitting on a client base right now that feels heavy, draining and constantly under pressure on price — have a serious look at the numbers.
Not just the revenue they're bringing in.
But the true cost of keeping them.
The write-offs.
The overtime.
The team frustration.
The margin bleed.
Because I'd bet the Cheap Client Tax is costing you more than you think.
The best thing we ever did for our business was get ruthless about who we worked with.
We stopped chasing any work.
And started choosing the right work.
And when we did — margins improved, the team got happier, and the business became a whole lot easier to run.
So the question is:
Who in your current client base is charging you the Cheap Client Tax?
And what are you going to do about it?
To your success,
Josh
PS: If you’re interested, here are 4 ways I can help you right now:
- Grab a copy of my new book | Profitable Engineering Consultant | 9 strategies to grow with confidence, get your time back & consistently hit 30% plus net profit margins – Click Here
- Subscribe to our podcast | Learn how to run a more profitable consultancy and grow successfully – no fluff, just actionable and practical advice from someone who grew a consultancy to $30M and exited successfully – Watch Here or Listen Here + make sure you subscribe!
- Download our free Business Plan template | Map out your Business Plan & grow your consultancy with confidence – Click Here to download now
- Book a 20-minute Business Audit Call | We’ll do a full review & audit of your business, uncover the #1 bottleneck that's holding you back right now & develop a 3-step action plan together for how you can get results faster. You'll leave this call with a clear and actionable plan for what to do next in your business – Book Here
