Not all business is good business. There are some clients that could sink you. At your first meeting keep in mind that while your prospective client might be interviewing you for the project you must also use that opportunity to evaluate him or her. Here are some tell-tale signs that a client may not be worth the hassle.
Keeps asking for you to drop your price: A client who keeps trying to negotiate you down probably does not really value your quality of work. While some negotation is reasonable constant nagging about your price is not a good sign. If you agree to reduce price then you should also reduce scope. Do not reduce your price for nothing. A key question to ask your client is what is the budget for the project. How honest the client is in answering this question will give you a good idea of how open your relationship will be.
The “I could do this myself if I had the time” client: Be very wary of persons who think they could do what you do for free. When I meet up persons like this I usually just simply encourage them to make time and do it themselves because technically speaking you could give yourself a haircut, do your own make-up or sew your own clothes. However, there is something different when a professional does it. Make sure that the clients that you have appreciate that.
Uncertain of requirements: Clients who want unorthodox solutions with amorphous requirements are ones to watch (from a distance). They may want something grand but are not sure exactly what it is and worse yet find it difficult to convey their ideas with words. If you should venture into a business relationship with such a client you could look out for multiple changes in scope, design and functionality. To coin the local expression “you will buss on d wok” or in other words suffer cost over runs.