Cutting Your Losses

I'm struggling with a decision--do I dump Mr. Big, my major client, my main source of income?

My reasoning: Mr. Big is my biggest client and is also my most difficult. I'm on a month-to-month contract. I am not a full-time employee. Yet I'm expected to maintain the same level of 24/7/365 availability, carry an incredibly heavy workload and contribute to strategy and planning sessions as though I were.

None of this is in my contract. And while Mr. Big continues to cut staff, has mandated that all full-time employees accept a 10 percent pay cut and take one unpaid furlough day every two weeks, I'm supposed to carry on joyfully, optimistic about the future. Layoffs continue, advertising revenue is rapidly shrinking, traffic to the sites is ebbing. This ship is going down like the Titanic.

I worked out the numbers the other day, and I'm supposed to deliver this for around $200 per story. I average about 600 words per story, which comes out to about $0.34 per word. That's paltry. I do have other clients that pay just slightly more, but they also treat me well. They understand that I am, for all intents and purposes, a mercenary. They are respectful of my time and my other clients and they appreciate my skills.

So, I'm seriously considering ditching Mr. Big as a client. The amount of stress, worry and despair it's causing me mentally, not to mention the time I spend daily working on pieces isn't worth the money. At what point do you stop bailing water out of a sinking ship and start swimming?

But then I get scared. What will I do without that income? What if I can't find enough other clients to make up for that? I've told myself in the past that I'd put up with this until the bitter end, until Mr. Big decides to get rid of me. But I am just not sure anymore how long I can hold on. But to voluntarily throw those checks overboard ... is that sheer madness? Or will it save me from insanity?

I'll have a slight cushion if I do so. Mr. Big pays invoices 45 days after I bill, which means I get paid for work I did two months ago.

I'm really torn, and I'm waiting for the last thread connecting me to Mr. Big to fray further and just ... snap.