Everyone wants to work with the ideal client, but how many consultants and entrepreneurs out there can afford the luxury of holding out for this mythical ideal client? Read on.

Anne-Marie Nichols at The Write Spot has an interesting post titled “Identifying your ideal client” that I found interesting. In the article, Anne-Marie discusses how important it is for a consultant or organization to take the time to really determine who their ideal client really is. In the post, Anne-Marie quotes an article by Michael Port on Nightingale.com that states:

Your clients are an expression and an extension of you. Many entrepreneurs and salespeople will work with anyone who has a heartbeat and a credit card. However, this method leaves you with too many challenging clients. Learn to live by the red velvet rope policy of ideal clients. By eliminating the painful negative energy and time spent worrying about challenging client relationships, you will dramatically increase your productivity, happiness, and client referral rate.

This makes sense but I wonder if it is possible for an entrepreneur or consultant just starting their new venture to court their ‘perfect’ client and turn down business from others?

I want to think that the answer to both of these questions is “yes”, however, there may be times in a new venture where a person and/or organization has to take business from a client whether that client fits into the ‘ideal client’ bucket (as long as the work is profitable)

[tags] Ideal Client, Consulting, Business Development [/tags]