Résumé (PDF)
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Our clients can’t afford us.

So what

About three of our small-business clients paid late or stopped paying, and for a company our size that was a lot. I pitched a pivot from lots of small clients to fewer mid-size ones that could pay more and still needed us. The company adopted it and still targets that segment.

At a glance

Role
Founding Product Manager & Design Lead at Tech Handoff, a small startup selling tech help to business people (in practice, mostly brands and websites)
Team
the founder, our developer and me
Timeframe
2021–2022
Status
Adopted · still the target segment
Numbers

More clients wasn’t the fix. Better-fit clients were.

The problem

We built websites and brands for small local businesses. Over time, those clients got flaky. About three of them paid late or stopped paying altogether, whether that was invoices or their hosting fees. Three doesn’t sound like many. For a startup our size, it was a lot, and the whole business felt unstable.

Digging in

The obvious answer was “find more clients.” But more small clients meant more of the same risk, plus more work to find them. So I looked at the math instead.

Five clients who can each pay $400 for a website bring in about what one client paying $1,500–$2,000 does. The five are far more work, though. Each one is another chance of not getting paid, and you have to keep hunting for the next batch.

Five small clients at $400 each bring in about what one mid-size client pays at $1,500 to $2,000. Each small client still needs the same brand discussion, iteration, outlining and build, so the five take far more work and carry more risk of not getting paid.$400$400late?$400$400unpaidhosting?$400each: brand talk · iterate · outline · buildsame work, five times over≈$1,500–$2,000brand talk · iterateoutline · buildFive small clients at $400 each bring in about what one mid-size client pays at $1,500 to $2,000. Each small client still needs the same brand discussion, iteration, outlining and build, so the five take far more work and carry more risk of not getting paid.$400$400late?$400$400unpaidhosting?$400each: brand talk · iterate · outline · buildsame work, five times over≈$1,500–$2,000brand talk · iterate · outline · build

The bigger realization: a small client wasn’t a small job. Every project still needed the brand discussion, rounds of iteration, an outline of the site and then the build. A $400 website took about as much of that work as a bigger one did.

Constraints

  • We still needed clients who needed us. Go too big and the company has its own IT team. They don’t need a small studio to build their website.
  • We were tiny. I was the only product and design person, so any new direction had to fit the team we already had.

What I did

I pitched a pivot to the founder: go after bigger fish, but only the ones that still need what we do. That sweet spot was mid-size businesses:

  • more stable, so they’re less likely to stop paying
  • able to pay more per project
  • still full of website, brand and IT pain points, with no dedicated internal team to handle them
A two-by-two chart of budget versus having an in-house team. The pivot moved from small businesses with little budget to mid-size businesses with budget but no in-house team, skipping large companies that already have IT.budget →has an in-house IT / design team →small localbusinesseslow budget, no teamlarge companieshas budget, has a team“they don’t need us”mid-size businesses:has budget, no teamthe pivotA two-by-two chart of budget versus having an in-house team. The pivot moved from small businesses with little budget to mid-size businesses with budget but no in-house team, skipping large companies that already have IT.budget →has an in-house IT / design team →small localbusinesseslow budget, no teamlarge companieshas budget, has a team“they don’t need us”mid-size businesses:has budget, no teamthe pivot

The argument: the brand talks, the iteration, the outlining and the build were going to happen either way. We should do them for clients who could pay for it.

Carrying the strategy into the work. “Quality over quantity” showed up in client work too. I repositioned a custom-leatherwork client from small, low-cost goods to premium bespoke work, then carried that through its logo, print ads and website prototype. A snow-plow client asked for a brand guide, and I pitched truck magnets on top of it. They went with the magnets. I also designed and ran print magazine and Facebook ad campaigns.

Truck magnet design for Schwab’s Hauling and Excavation, a Tech Handoff client, on a pickup truck mockup.
Truck magnets for the snow-plow client.

What happened

The company adopted the pivot and still targets this segment. They still ask for my advice when they need it.

Looking back

The complaint sounded like a sales problem. It was a fit problem. Now when someone says “we need more,” I ask “more of what, exactly?”