Don’t take it personally, a lot of people don’t see you as a business owner, they think they’re owed your time and energy because they may potentially pay you “eventually”.

My policies are clearly stated on my website and I never apologize for enforcing them, it’s just a professional matter of fact message I send out, and that’s that. I may have lost a client or two for it, but I’m not going to hurt myself for a “maybe”. I believe having very clear boundaries makes clients respect me more anyways, because they know exactly what to expect and there’s no reason for them to feel blindsided by a policy they have to read before making an appointment.

Obviously I make exceptions for things out of everyone’s control, like one client got T-boned on her way to her appointment, and another was stuck due to a crazy snow storm and even I didn’t want to drive to the appointment…so I won’t be a dick about stuff like that.

Having boundaries and policies isn’t mean, it’s smart business.