Supporting Friends in Business Means the World
I’ve been meaning to write this post for a very long time and more so now for 2 reasons:
Firstly, having spent some time with a group of entrepreneurs who felt let down by their closest friends due to lack of support when it came to one of their passions in life – their business. Secondly after seeing a Facebook post that read “Support your friends, Don’t ask for free stuff, pay for it, go to their show, be the first to buy their products and promote their ideas”.
I cannot stress enough just how much it means to someone to have support from friends however big or small. Now I’m not saying anyone expects anything, really they don’t but a mention of “how’s it all going?” or a like or share of a business post will really mean the absolute world, it really is hard out there when you are starting out – we have all been there!
I always try my best to support my friends as much as possible with their business projects. If I have used their service of bought their products I will write them a review, if I think what they do will be of interest to my personal network then I will share their business page or recommend them whenever I can – all because I want to see them succeed, I want to see them grow, it really is that simple.
Not so long ago a friend of mine who isn’t in business recently sent me a message to say she had read my latest blog post and loved it, I was over the moon, really really chuffed and at the same time she had taken time to have a look around my website and pointed out a typo I had missed which I was really grateful for. A fresh set of eyes can notice things you can’t…I can’t say it won’t be the last mistake I make I’m human after all but it meant a lot that she took time out to read my content!
I would also like to point out that my friends know they can always ask me for support (I have a lot that run their own business) but they know just how far to go. They respect what I do and if they need my service they are willing to pay for it , they have no expectations of freebies or quibble as they really value what I do. So I’ll say this now – do not give friends freebies. As harsh as that may sound you NEED to act like you mean business from the outset because you do mean business right? Giving freebies will only set you up for those devaluing your service, start as you mean to go on….BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND WHAT YOU ARE OFFERING!
Going back to the beginning of this post I’ve no doubt in my mind that these friends wouldn’t have realised just how important any support would mean, recommendations, reviews, likes and shares and positive encouragement are a huge part of business visibility and not all friends will understand this, so don’t be afraid to point this out and ask for help and support when you need it.
Love, Dee
xx
