In my years as a business person, I have learned and unlearned so many lessons that it is hard for people, or should I say customers to trick me anymore, One particular lesson that caused me so many problems in the past is taking my business leisurely with close friends and relative until I was taught the hard lesson, and now my slogan is "there is no friend when it comes to business" if not, they will wreck your business down due to over-familiarity, not caring that your business is run with money and at the end of the day, each business is meant to bring profit.
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Now I hear them say, I take my business too seriously, why won't I? After all the pain I went through at the hands of evil friends that almost ruined me because of my show of kindness towards them, in my mind, I was helping a friend, while in theirs, they don't care about how you feel or what the business goes through to keep running. I will be sharing with us an event that made me come to this conclusion.
I'm a fashion designer, and I also sell different types of fabrics, as this is another way I bring in more customers to myself. One day, a friend of mine(or so I thought) approached me to make different outfits for her and her family, She was attending the housewarming party of her elder sister who just arrived from overseas, but the problem was, she said, she could only afford to buy the fabrics but not the sewing fees, that I should help them make the dresses, she would pay me as soon as she arrives from the party, off course this goes against the rule of every business owner, she should at least make a down payment, I refused considering the stress and the materials needed to make the outfits, she kept pleading, saying I should remember she is my friend, to cut the story short, she brought quarter of the total payment
which cannot even cover the cost of making the dresses, as she still needed to pay 75% balance. For the sake of friendship, I made them the outfits and saw how glamorous they looked at the event through her WhatsApp status.
A week she promised turned to weeks, and she wasn't picking up my calls or replying to my messages although, after the first week, she said she wasn't back yet and would stay an extra week, after a month, I couldn't take it anymore, and the worst part was that I didn't know her new place of residence because she recently moved to a new location. Fortunately for me, I saw her husband drive by a popular bus stop, I halted and greeted him, asking about his wife, "my friend" he said she should be at home now, Without letting him know my intentions, I asked that I follow him to greet my friend and know their new location. We arrived, and she was so shocked to see me, her elder sister was present too, she didn't know how to hide her face, I thought of exposing her but kept my cool, through my short discussion with her sister, she had lied that a bigger fashion house made their dress, as her sister was in Lagos to patronize the fashion designer that made their dresses, I quickly introduced myself as the fashion designer that made their dresses, showing her some of my works, also making sure I left with my balance, I was so pissed at her for repaying my good deeds with evil, but it all bounced back on her, as I got a better deal from her sister which she paid in full.
That experience made me never to mix business with pleasure, meaning, when it's business, it's business whether you are my friend or not, before you take home any job done for you, you must pay in full, and so far has been sustaining my business.
As for my relationship with her, we still get to see each other and talk, but she knows now that I can never repeat the same mistake I did with her before.
This post is in response to the hive learners weekly contest, week 76, edition 3.
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