There is a lot to be said about small clients being disproportionately less lucrative than large ones. (Large ones are used to higher rates and additional pay

There is a lot to be said about small clients being disproportionately less lucrative than large ones. (Large ones are used to higher rates and additional pay for scope changes) Getting past that, beyond what’s already been eloquently said by others… 1 - Be explicit in writing about favors. (“I am doing this beyond the contract because…”) 2 - If you turn a personal relationship into a business relationship, you may lose the personal relationship if the business side goes bad. 3 - Diversify so you can afford to lose any one client. 4 - Don’t be afraid to ask your worth. “Yes, $125/hr is fair, since it’s already a discount from the $150/hr that BigCo paid, and I have to fund my benefits and downtime” (Set your rate based on what else you would do with that time rather than by what they claim to be able to afford) 4.5 - Bump the rate dramatically for small chunks of time.