[kensey]

Small consultancies also tend to fall into the trap of having one client (often their first client) that they utterly depend on the money from... but who doesn't depend on them to be able to survive. That customer almost always knows the relationship is unbalanced in their favor (sometimes they went into the relationship specifically because they knew it would be that way) and they will run you ragged with unreasonable requests, burning out your staff and ruining your relationships with other clients because you have to keep them happy so they keep writing checks (and then you're even more dependent on them, as a rancid little bonus).

The only way out is to either gut your way through it till you grow enough to be able to push back without risking your existence; detect that things are going that way early and fire them as a customer before it ever gets to that point... or keep burning out staff till you can't find fresh faces, then close up shop.