u/According_Target4038

Not looking for the obvious stuff like "it's harder than you think" or "save more runway."

I mean the specific, industry-insider thing that nobody tells you until you've already made the mistake.

Mine: in my industry, the client who haggles hardest on price is almost always the hardest to work with. The ones who pay without blinking are 9 times out of 10 the ones who respect your time, give clear briefs, and pay on time. Took me two years and a lot of painful projects to figure that one out.

What's yours? Could save someone here a lot of time.