Dropping out of a freelance project halfway through

Ruh-roh. You've accepted a project only to realise you can't finish it. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?! Never fear mate, your gal pal is here to guide you. Let's talk dropping out…

Okay, let’s be real. This is probably one of the worst-case scenarios you can face as a freelancer. It’s one of the last things you want to happen — it’s happened to me and many of my contemporaries. In fact, a lot of the intel I’m sharing in this post comes directly from conversations I’ve had with other people in my community, so huge shout out to them! 👋

Step 1: be honest with yourself about whether or not you’re fit to continue

Let’s start with a hard question: why do you feel you need to drop out? Is it because your imposter syndrome is getting the better of you? If so, you can always revisit good client feedback and past project successes to bolster yourself. If you let this get the better of you now, you’ll always be a slave to it. Try to push on through because — believe it or not — you are good enough!

Are you dropping out because the client is toxic or the project has gotten out of hand? If so, there may be other options you can explore. For example, could you push through to the end but agree not to take more work from this client? Could you simply have a conversation with the client wherein you share how you’re feeling and offer solutions to the issue?

Could you agree to get them to a project milestone before bringing someone else in to finish the job? Or is it early enough that you can leave ASAP without causing a shitstorm? You might be able to onboard someone and pass on all your notes to catch them up to speed.

Make sure you really think about why you need to drop out — there may be potential workarounds if you can pinpoint the issue.

Step 2: forgive yourself for not continuing

Having to drop out isn't ideal, but if you know you aren't a good fit for the project or that the client isn't right for you (for whatever reason), you're doing the right thing by walking away.

It isn’t failure. Not at all. If anything, it takes real guts to be this honest. No client deserves a half-arsed project — if you can’t bring your whole arse to the table, you gots ta move on. Just don’t make a habit of it, yeah?

Step 3: have the conversation

Let's not make things worse by pussyfooting around the issue. Instead, have the conversation on a video call or by phone and be upfront. The sooner you do it, the better.

Try not to use blaming language or cause conflict with accusations. Instead, explain why this isn't going to work out and make a suggestion for your replacement.

In these circumstances, it's always better to put the word out (privately) to your community and see who's willing to take the job. Be honest with them about why you can't continue — don't drop someone else in the shit. That's not how we roll in the freelance community!

Step 4: remember the lesson

As we've already mentioned, dropping out of a project isn’t cute. So let's not make a habit of it, yeah? Remember what went wrong in this instance and bloody learn from it.

I use a client screening spreadsheet to qualify my leads before agreeing to take a project. I developed it based on my past experiences with wrong-fit jobs and nightmare clients, and it's tailored to me. I score each client out of ten for the qualities that mean the most to me — if the prospect scores less than 75%, I don't take the work.

When I chat with a prospect in those early interactions, I keep my Spidey senses tuned in. I make a point to talk about money, terms, processes, goals — all that hard shit we instinctively avoid because we think we might lose the job over it. Those are the questions that'll reveal a wrong fit almost instantly, so it's well worth having the tough convos upfront.

Hope this helps! Come and find me on Twitter and let me know your thoughts. Have you ever had to drop out of a project early?