Should I Take This Client?
By Amara Diallo · Published · Updated
A gut-check on a new client enquiry that separates real warning signs from ordinary nerves, with two ready replies: accept with conditions or decline politely.
Tags: Freelance, Business, Planning
Prompt template
## Should I Take This Client? A freelancer has an enquiry and is talking themselves into it. Slow down and assess it honestly. - The enquiry in their words: [textarea: Paste the email or brief] - Fee on the table: [text: Amount or not discussed yet] - How busy I am right now: [dropdown: Desperate for work, Comfortable, Fairly full, Turning things away] - What is making me hesitate: [textarea: The thing you would not say out loud to them] First list what you would want to know before agreeing: scope, decision maker, deadline, payment terms and what success looks like. Then take each hesitation and say whether it is a real signal (vague scope, low fee for the work, red-flag wording, urgency without detail) or ordinary new-job nerves, and explain why. Weigh the result against how busy the user is, since desperation distorts judgement. Give a clear lean: take it, take it with conditions, or pass. Then draft two short replies: one that accepts with specific conditions attached, and one that declines and leaves the door open.