Yes, you can outwork bad clients for a while.
But eventually, you’ll hit the ceiling.

Last month in in Amsterdam, Coen, a studio owner, told me:

“We’re working harder than ever, but it feels like we’re going backwards.”

I knew exactly what he meant.
Because I’ve heard it a hundred times before.

The Trap
Hard work won’t save your studio.
It will keep you stuck in survival mode.

Never enough time.
Never enough budget.
Always the wrong clients.

Hard work got you this far.
YES.

But now you’re hitting the ceiling.
You’re stagnating.
Pushing harder for better clients, bigger budgets.

The Ceiling
What Coen was really hitting is the Value Ceiling.
To grow, he didn’t need to grind harder.
He needed better clients.

And that’s the catch:
Winning better clients requires learning their language.
It means articulating your value in a way they actually understand.

The Truth
As long as you don’t let go of the wrong clients, you’ll stay stuck with them.

They drain your energy, time, and money.
You’ll end up with good work, yes. 
…but at what cost?

The Shift
Your work isn’t great because you worked hard.
It’s great because, despite the pressure, you still found moments to think, to experiment, to push.

Now imagine this:
Clients who trust you.
Who give you space.
Who give you budgets that allow growth, not burnout.

Growth doesn’t come from working harder.
It comes from choosing better clients.

The right clients don’t just pay more.
They see you differently.
They buy your ideas, not your hours.
They pull you into bigger rooms with bigger possibilities.

The Lesson
Here’s what you can do to break out of survival mode:

Take your smallest project or service and reframe it as a thinking-first offer.

Instead of selling design hours, sell a workshop, a strategy sprint, or a discovery phase.

That one change moves you from vendor → partner, and instantly filters for better clients.

Is it scary to say NO to projects?
YES.
But that is the key.

If you need help, if you need someone that coaches you through this, reach out. 

This is exactly why we built the Focus Group.

To give studios tangible frameworks and strategies they can actually apply to grow.

Send me a message and I’ll send you the details.

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