Client Retention: Why Keeping Customers Beats Finding New Ones
Client retention for freelancers and small firms: measure it from your own invoices, trace the famous profit claim, and use 6 habits that keep good clients.
Entrepreneurship, Freelancing & Small Business
Running a small business or solo practice productively.
Working with clients and customers
Pricing, proposals and contracts
Scope of Work: How to Define It So Projects Don't Sprawl
A scope of work in 8 sections: objective, counted deliverables, exclusions, assumptions, milestones, revision limits, acceptance and change rules.
Hourly vs. Value-Based Pricing: Which Model Fits Your Work?
Hourly or value-based pricing? 2 questions decide it: can the work be defined before it starts, and can the client put a number on the result?
Entrepreneurship fundamentals
How to Validate a Business Idea Before You Quit Your Job
How to validate a business idea in 5 steps: write testable guesses, ask for commitments rather than compliments, and set a stopping rule before you quit.
Should You Start a Business? An Honest Look at the Odds and the Trade-Offs
Should you start a business? About half of new US business locations with staff close within 5 years, but not every closure is a failure. How to weigh it.
Starting up
What Is an MVP? How to Test a Business With the Smallest Possible Version
A minimum viable product is the smallest test that could prove a business guess wrong. 5 MVP types, how to set a pass mark first, and when to stop.
Founder time, wellbeing and relationships
Co-Founders: How to Choose One and How to Split the Work
How to choose a co-founder in 5 steps: decide if you need one, pick for skills you lack, test the fit on real work, then put roles and equity in writing.
Business money basics
Cash Flow Explained: Why Profitable Businesses Still Run Out of Money
Half of US small employer firms in a 2025 Fed survey said uneven cash flow was a challenge. Why profit and cash differ, with a worked example.