I've dropped a couple of clients, usually over some kind of billing issue or abuse. I don't regret losing the relationships, but I would handle it a lot differe

I've dropped a couple of clients, usually over some kind of billing issue or abuse. I don't regret losing the relationships, but I would handle it a lot differently now (they happened earlier on in my business, and I was partly at fault too). "Hi, we really need to talk about how your project has been progressing. I've put a lot of effort in to it, with a lot more hours than we originally discussed. I want to see it finished to your satisfaction, but I'm also not making enough money right now to cover my expenses. I have to start looking for more income immediately. I'll finish a few more items [..., ..., ...], but if you want [..., ..., ...] done, I have to bill you at a normal professional rate. Since we've worked so hard together on this, I'll charge a little less than my next client. Let's say $400/day. I'll do my best to give you an estimate for new features." And negotiate from there. Put the ball back in his court; let it be his decision to either pay you or discontinue the project. Most folks understand that they can get any 2 of cheap, fast, or good; if he can't afford the budget for the project, he'll either drop it or negotiate with you and you can offer to wind down the project at a rate that you're happier with, spending far less time on it. Or, he'll come up with the money; I've had a few clients suddenly show up with a nice check once I say, "I can't keep working on this for you at your original budget." I started doing the "straightforward & honest" thing with clients a little over a year ago. I dropped all pretenses about money and how great business is (it's not bad, but it could be better). I thought everyone would stop working with me. What happened instead is almost everyone really appreciated it. So, in my experience, there's no harm at all in just telling someone you can't afford to keep working for them. Sometimes they'll offer you more money. A few folks will flip out or come unglued or say rude things. That's the beauty of being a consultant, you really don't have to put up with that if you don't feel like it. You can walk away from people like them and not look back or regret it. But, almost all of my work has come from word-of-mouth, so I try to keep clients pretty happy as much as possible. > I got sweet-talked... trying to sweet talk... It sounds like you're just struggling with negotiating, like pretty much everyone does when they're just starting out. He begs or pleads or convinces you that it won't be that hard and you wear down and say OK and then try to do it and resent it. So now you want to run away because you don't feel like you can handle negotiating with him. Try it anyway, and keep trying. Even if you end up walking away from the project, you'll learn a lot by trying to renegotiate. If you have to, write a number down on a piece of paper before talking to him. Don't start higher with the hopes of negotiating down to it, don't accept anything less than that, just stick to it. Write "don't do it you idiot" on the back of the paper. Every time you start to consider taking a lower number, flip the paper over.