One of the biggest challenges for freelance and independent web designers is knowing which clients and projects to accept, and which ones to pass up. Most designers feel a need to take every project that comes their way, but this is not a good practice for a number of reasons.

One of the main reasons that you should not accept every project and every client is simply that some of them are not willing to pay what you need to get for your time. If you’re spending all of your time on low paying jobs it will prevent you from taking other work. Of course, there are many other reasons as well, which we will get in to.

In this article we’ll look at five factors that should be considered by designers when they are evaluating a potential client and project. Taking the wrong projects can be a detriment to the designer because it means they will be unable to take other work in it’s place if a better opportunity comes along.

1. Income

This is one that very few designers will forget, but it needs to be mentioned. Of course, the amount of money that you will make on a project should be one of the factors that weighs in your decision. You’re sure to run in to a lot of potential clients who want the world on a very limited budget.

If the client is working with a very limited budget that doesn’t fit into your normal pricing scale, they should be willing to make some compromises that will reduce the amount of time required from you, or you should probably pass on the work. You may also consider having a package especially for clients who have less-than-ideal budgets. This would allow you to capture some business from clients that you would otherwise have to pass on.

2. Timeframe

Almost every project will involve a deadline of some type. Larger projects may even have a number of deadlines or milestone dates that need to be met. In some cases the deadline may not be as firm, but the client will still have an expectation of when it will be complete.

If a client has a time line that simply isn’t possible for you, let them know that it isn’t going to work. Tell them when you think you would be able to get it done and see if they can accept this deadline. Otherwise, you could increase your pricing for the rush job, or walk away.

3. Fit Between the Project and Your Skills

Every designer is going to have his or her own unique strengths and weaknesses. Not every project will be a good fit for you. There will be some situations where you want to take a project for a learning experience, but in general it is best to take projects that are a good fit for your skills, and let the others pass.

4. Likes and Dislikes

In addition to having some specific strengths and weaknesses as a designer, you’ll also have some types of work that you prefer and others that you really would rather not be involved with. Once you know the types of projects that you enjoy working on, make an effort to make this a higher percentage of your workload.

5. Workload

One of the best ways to drag down the quality of your work is to try to do too much at once. Taking too many clients and projects is tempting because it may pay more, but you will soon find that you would have been better of to push that project back to a later date.

One common practice is to speak with the client about their project, see what their time frame is, and agree on a tentative date for starting in the future when your workload will be manageable.

Steven Snell runs a popular web design blog that includes a web free design and development job board to help designers find work, and to help companies find the right designer.