Last Wednesday at 11 PM, Old Zhou sent: "Let's leave it here."

He asked about invoices twice. I missed both.

Old Zhou (alias) was my first paying client, signed 3 months ago, 8000 RMB/month. He quit last week. When I replayed what happened, I realized he'd asked me twice if I could issue invoices — I dodged both times.

The night he left, I saw a blog post titled "California is chasing wealth with feet." It hit me: clients have feet, money has feet, everyone has feet. You can't chase what has feet.

California chased for 5 years. The richest still left.

California started trying to keep wealthy people in 2019 — tax hikes, welfare boosts, slogans. Result? Musk moved Tesla HQ from Palo Alto to Austin, Texas. Joe Rogan left California for Texas. Hedge funds fled San Francisco for Miami. One line from that article stung: "You can't outrun someone who's already decided to leave — make them not want to go."

California's approach was chasing — subsidies, slogans. My approach with Old Zhou was chasing too — he asked about invoices, I said "let me think." The result of chasing? They run faster.

Start tonight: 3 actions, 0 yuan

  • Money: 0 yuan. No spending needed — just 1 hour to think clearly.
  • Time: 1-2 hours. Pick your most recent client and write: "Why haven't they left lately?"
  • Barrier: No jargon needed. WeChat memo app is fine.
  • First step: Tonight, open your notes app and write 3 words — "why stay."

"Why is he still here?" "Why hasn't he left?" Once you answer those two, you'll know what to do.

Not invoice stuff like that — something deeper: renewal discount? Client group? Priority replies? Template resources? Pick any. The cost is tiny.

Different stages, different moves

  • Just starting (0 clients): No clients yet, but you can start asking: "Can I give a client a reason to stay?" Bake it into your product intro. Don't wait till they're gone.
  • 1-2 clients: Do this tonight. Message your newest client: "How's it going? Anything rough?" That one sentence might be worth 8000 RMB.
  • Scaling (3-10 clients): Build a client group. Drop stuff weekly — templates, tutorials, discounts. Make them feel "this isn't just a transaction, you're in a circle." Circles are hard to leave.

California's lesson: chase them, they run faster. Better spend time becoming someone they don't want to leave.