The shadow of opportunity

Picture this… You’ve just landed your best client ever — the unicorn of clients. Their projects are interesting, they’re easy to work with, and let’s not kid ourselves; they pay well. Very well.

Months roll on, and you’re moving into a bigger office and getting ready for the vacation of a lifetime when a notification pops up on your screen…

“We’ve decided to go another direction”.

It’s not only a gut punch — it immediately sends your reality crumbling. That big office and bucket-list vacation? Forget about it. You’re in instant survival mode wondering how you can even pay your bills.

You’ve been so complacent, you’ve stopped filling a pipeline and the rest of your clients have been left mostly ignored.

While this story is fictitious, it’s so rooted in reality that it could be the biography for many agencies. I’ve watched it happen — and to some degree, had it happen myself.

It’s what we call the “whale client” — the huge account that your agency is entirely dependent on. It’s an easy trap to fall in — because who doesn’t want a giant account?

Listen, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with landing a whale client. They can be the thing that gets your business off the ground. But — and this is a big but — you’ve got to be smart about it. Recognize it for what it is: both an opportunity and a risk.

If you feel like you might have a whale on the line, here are a few of my suggestions:

1. Always Continue Building Relationships. No matter how good you have it, or how busy you are, you have to keep the pipeline flowing. You have to keep fishing.
2. Set Boundaries. Your business isn’t an all-you-can-eat buffet — no matter how much your client pays you. You’re not anyone’s employee, so you can’t act like one.
3. Rainy Day Fund. It’s easy to inflate your lifestyle alongside your income… But instead of cashing all of the checks, set up a percentage from your whale to set aside for a rainy day.

And while there’s no hard and fast rules (that I’ve seen), here’s some ranges you can use to measure your reliance on a client:

0-5%: Healthy diversification.
5-15%: On the radar, but not alarming.
15-20%: You might have a whale — proceed with caution! 
20-50%: Dangerous condition, implement contingencies.
50%+: Red alert, immediate action required.

Do yourself a favor: run the numbers. Risk likes to hide in the shadow of opportunity.