Name: How do I set boundaries with my clients? | Dear Jamie
Uploaded: 2026-03-31T03:45:05.000Z
Duration: 6 min 43 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

The imperative

Past simple

Have you ever worked with a client and they maybe just went a little too far with the asking,

and now you're like, "How the hell do I set a boundary?" On this episode of Dear Jamie, that's exactly what we're talking about.

Dear Jamie, I have landed my first client, but they take up most of my time.

I have already assisted this client by providing services beyond their package, yet they keep demanding for more.

How do I set boundaries with my clients and ensure they only receive what they paid for?

First, congratulations on your first client.

And one thing that we're always going to be navigating is learning and growing as an entrepreneur.

What's needing support, what's not needing support, what went well, and what can I improve on?

Now, with any kind of boundary setting, something that I would really suggest is any time someone is onboarding, whether this is a one-to-one service, whether this is an online program, is clearly stating deliverables in a contract or an agreement,

and making sure that they are fully aware of what's inside scope and what's outside of scope, when things are going to be delivered, when they can expect things, if there are any kind of issues with anything, how to resolve them together.

And just having this clear layout of this is what's in scope and this is what's out of scope will support you in being able to help them understand what you are there for and what they are paying for and what is something that might be an additional charge.

Now, when you have a client that is maybe asking for more that might be out of scope, you can kindly say, "Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention.

However, this deliverable is out of scope for what we have a current agreement around.

If you would like to discuss adding this to your package or adding this to your deliverables, I would be more than happy to discuss what additional investment that would look like.

Would that feel good for you?" This gives a way of being able to reiterate the original agreement and also be able to be very open-minded and professional around sharing that you'd be happy to do additional things.

There might be times where they might ask for something that is outside of your area of genius or out of scope,

and it might just not be your main focus or something that you excel in or even specialize in.

And you can even say something along the lines of, "Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention.

I would love to be able to support you with this.

However, this is not necessarily my area of focus,

and I would love to be able to refer you out to someone that I deeply trust and who will be able to support you in that specific space." If there's a certain point where maybe you started with this client and you didn't set those clear expectations, that's okay.

At this point, what you want to remember is that if you have put up any new boundaries or supportive frameworks or guidelines around your time, your services, and

the energetic reciprocity between you and the client, if anyone really does not treat you well after putting up that boundary, that is a clear indication that there is not an energetic respect of each other's time or each other's values.

Now, if I ever had a client where I put up a boundary in a very kind and respectful way and they didn't accept that with respect, I would clearly recognize right now you really only care about you,

and you don't care about the exchange between us both.

And someone who cares and has values and actually cares about their service providers or cares about their coaches or cares about the people they're working with cares that they're putting up a clear framework of expectation and deliverables.

And that happens all the time in business.

Every single day, there's always somebody either changing their boundaries or changing their frameworks or changing their expectations,

So if there's a situation where you didn't put boundaries in place or expectations in the very beginning, that's okay.

What you can state moving forward is saying, "Hey, I really respect you as a client,

and I'm making a couple changes in my business,

and I would love to be able to update you on what's happening with specific services, specific deliverables,

and to go through what it looks like moving forward if we continue to work together." And being able to just have an open conversation around, "Hey, I'm sending you over a new contract," or you can send a contract or an outline with maybe a Loom with a video helping them understand and making sure that the energy of your care and consideration for working together with them really comes through.

People who care about people and care about services will respect the fact that you are a business owner and you have very clear line in the sand here.

I feel like it's important to share that you're not doing anything wrong and you're not doing anything bad and you're not hurting anyone's feelings,

and you're allowed to change and you're allowed to create structures that support your energy and support your time and support you as a person.

I want you to recognize that you're going to be okay.

You are going to be so solid no matter what they say back, whether they are upset, whether they are happy, whether they no longer want to work with you.

At the end of the day, be proud of the boundaries and the space in which you get to exist in your business.

And sometimes people are not going to be pleased, and sometimes they will be.

You get to decide who you want to work with.

And if someone's not happy or treats you with not a lot of respect for you putting up clear boundaries— Bye-bye.

There are so many different kinds of experiences that we can have in business,

and trust me, I've heard a lot of them, and I love supporting you through it.

If you have any questions on something specific that you're navigating and you would love some feedback and/or some coaching, then I am here for you.

You can submit your questions anonymously, and everything you need is in the show notes below.