Friendships, Businesses And The Balance
I have stopped calling just anybody my buddy as of late, It is not appropriate to just assign that word to someone because it is not a simple word but I think that in order to be eligible for that position in someone's life, there are requirements related to roles, relationship dynamics and closeness levels, If not we might as well make some enemies of our own.
It's true that nobody is flawless, therefore I want to strive not to come across as a saint, I simply feel that there are some things people do that truly puzzle me and sometimes I can never come up with an explanation for them, i was supposed to talk about this issue of buddies in business.
About five months ago, a very good friend of mine started her own business, It's her brand of shoes, she creates certain kind of shoes on her own, she had to invest a great deal of money, time, effort, and attention into learning how to produce shoes before she could launch the business, but there was a point during her company's inception when she had a problem with one of her clients.
In addition to being really kind and caring, my friend isn't motivated by a desire to gain money, to encourage people to try her, she was therefore willing to start small and generate modest sales of her items, therefore, in order to make it simpler for individuals to want to try her hand at work and avoid having to deal with rivalry from established players in her field market, she was willing to start small and generate modest earnings from her products.
She told me that $10 was the real amount that would be reasonable for both herself and the consumer. My buddy, however, was prepared to perform the task for the customer—with whom she would later have a problem—for $6, on the other hand the buyer continued to want a further reduction even after being informed of what the true pricing ought to have been, the client desired to pay $3, i was as shocked as my buddy the shoemaker and I was much more horrified to find out who this customer was.
It seemed that this particular consumer was actually one of my "excellent friends," In actuality, my friend Stella had always been so helpful to her friend and even so involved in her friend's business, every now and again, when Joanna had fresh inventory to sell, she would get in touch with Stella and convince her to be her customer, sometimes, my pal would comply, but what's unsettling is that Joanna consistently delivered what seemed like astronomical costs.
Stella tried to take into account the impact of the horrible inflation in the economy on items, so she always sort of realized that her friend's pricing were a little out of the ordinary but she never really brought it up, however Joanna would never ever mention a "friendship discount," as she would later ask Stella about on Stella's merchandise.
May I also say that throughout the negotiating stage, Joanna's attitude toward my buddy changed? Yes, Joanna supported Stella as if they were strangers, despite the fact that Stella had done a great job of covering the expense for her buddy, my buddy was shocked and saddened by that behavior which she found quite offensive, as a result, hence she was forced to back out of the terrible transaction.
Stella would do the same for me if I wanted to buy a pair of shoes from her, she really refused to tell me how much it would have cost but from our earlier comparable conversations, I was able to piece together what it may have cost.
Because we had been such close friends my buddy insisted that I, of all her pals, shouldn't even have to pay any money, i could see her point of view and why she would do it for me but I still followed my gut and paid the full price for the shoes I want. Maybe I sent even more but in all honesty I didn't care, but I had to discuss this "friends in business" issue with my pal.
To put it briefly I helped her realize that out of everyone in the planet, her true friends are the ones who should assist her by covering the entire cost of her services and goods particularly in the early stages of the company, we can support her and assist in the expansion and success of her firm in a number of ways, including that, If we didn't, what kind of friends would we be to her?
As per "dear buddy," I could reap some advantages later on, particularly when the firm is really taking off but for now, however, I must demonstrate right now in the foundation that I am, in fact, a buddy, the at's how things ought to be, as a buddy, I shouldn't be the one to destroy the company...
