your friends are rarely ideal customers
I got a question from one of my YouTube
viewers I love you guys Rick and Rick
wrote in to say what if your friends and
family want your services but don’t
expect to pay for it surprisingly this
is a common question Rick and I’m glad
you asked it I don’t think I’ve ever
answered this on the channel yet so
thank you for asking the question
you gotta understand first starting off
that your friends and family you love
them but they’re rarely ideal customers
for you right this is not where you want
to start running your business because
they do expect a lot of things either
for free or at a discount and they
usually don’t have the budget to spend
what you’re worth and so that’s not
where you want to be spending your time
how do you handle the situation okay
Uncle Bobby writes in and says hey you
know I need this done you’re gonna do it
for free right how I would do it one is
definitely be upfront it honest
let them know where you’re at with your
company let them know that you’re
struggling right like I’m trying to
build this thing up I’m really
struggling right now I don’t have the
bandwidth to do it just let them know
that it costs you money and that you
really need to focus on your company
write it and if your friends are still
pushing you even they understand your
situation because it’s so easy you look
at somebody else and you think oh they
have an easy life right they’ve got a
made for themselves this guy he’s
running his own business he’s living the
dream I’m stuck at this crappy job right
somebody else’s life is always better
they don’t see your problems they don’t
see how hard everything is for you they
don’t see how hard it is for you to get
this company up and going so show it to
them not enough fighting like I can’t
believe you’re asking for this kind of
way but in a vulnerable way right make
them feel your pains like I’m struggling
just to keep this thing going I don’t
know where I’m gonna find my next
customer I’m paying X and dollars a
month just to keep this business going
they’re your friend they’re your
Emily’s right make them you can share
this kind of stuff with them
and if they don’t get that then maybe
they’re not as good a friend as you
thought right if they see how vulnerable
and hurting you are to get this company
going and they’re still insisting that
you do everything for them for free like
by tomorrow then that’s not the best
friend in the world for you on top of
that so what else can you do so yes
we’re being honest for being vulnerable
letting them know how hard this is for
you some options okay one you can
consider giving to them at cost or dis
kind of price so they’re not getting it
for free but you’re not making a ton of
money off of them your Prada can’t make
a ton of money off your friends anyway
but you can say hey this is my cost like
for me to come out and do this I’m not
paying myself a huge wage you’re making
anything paying yourself anything you
say just to run my business this is what
it would cost I don’t know what you’re
doing so you do web development so Uncle
Bobby needs a new website see this is
what it would this is what like my
physical costs are to do this to have my
designer create something without
charging a margin on it here’s what it
actually cost me this cost me money is
money out of my pocket so you could at
least charge them cost so they
understand the cost and can make a
decision and so for some people once I
understand even your cost a lot of times
that’s even too much for them and
they’ll back off so that’s first the
second thing is you may want to think
about it only during downtime so with a
lot of service businesses it’s not
consistent where you’re always busy
there’s ups and downs and ups and downs
right and so if you’re adamant that you
want to give them some stuff for free
you could do it during your downtown’s
where you don’t have a lot of business
on the table you may still have all your
overhead and your your team and your
cost so you might as well work on a
project so you can say hey I can do this
for you but it’s not gonna happen until
two months because that’s when things
get a little quiet for me and the last
thing I would think about is treat it
like you would treat helping a friend
with anything else don’t make it part of
your business so there’s an example
buddy of mine asked me to come and help
him demo his basement you know he had a
flood he’s had insurance coming in and
now he has to demo everything out and
rebuild it’s like Ivan can’t come over
and help me tear apart my basement sure
happy to help you because you’re my
friend I’m not gonna charge you a
consulting fee for coming to help you
demo your basement but I’m also not
doing it during my business hours right
I’m not taking Wednesday afternoon at 2
o’clock to go help you demo your
basement all right I’m gonna do it on an
evening or a weekend and so that’s the
time I set aside for my friends and my
family so you could treat it like that
maybe this is an opportunity for you to
be closer to your friend closer to your
family do something together work on
something but it’s not during your
regular work hours if you’re really busy
so those are a few ideas but again it
all comes back to honesty and helping
them understand your situation why this
is hard for you because they’re thinking
he’s got this business he’s doing really
well for himself he’s you know this is
easy for him doesn’t cost him anything
so you have to educate them and come
from a place of vulnerability where they
feel your pain and and feel bad for
asking for free because of how much
suffering is causing you and how much
you really need business and then those
other strategies to help you on top of
that so let me know what you guys think
you know I’m curious how have you
handled friends and family writing in
and saying hey Evan or hey you know
whatever whoever you are give this to me
for free leave a comment let me know how
you’ve handled it so other people can
benefit from it as well you guys like
this video thumbs up below click on my
face this card to the channel thank you
so much I’ll see you soon
I got a question from one of my YouTube
viewers I love you guys Rick and Rick
wrote in to say what if your friends and
family want your services but don’t
expect to pay for it surprisingly this
is a common question Rick and I’m glad
you asked it I don’t think I’ve ever
answered this on the channel yet so
thank you for asking the question
you gotta understand first starting off
that your friends and family you love
them but they’re rarely ideal customers
for you right this is not where you want
to start running your business because
they do expect a lot of things either
for free or at a discount and they
usually don’t have the budget to spend
what you’re worth and so that’s not
where you want to be spending your time
how do you handle the situation okay
Uncle Bobby writes in and says hey you
know I need this done you’re gonna do it
for free right how I would do it one is
definitely be upfront it honest
let them know where you’re at with your
company let them know that you’re
struggling right like I’m trying to
build this thing up I’m really
struggling right now I don’t have the
bandwidth to do it just let them know
that it costs you money and that you
really need to focus on your company
write it and if your friends are still
pushing you even they understand your
situation because it’s so easy you look
at somebody else and you think oh they
have an easy life right they’ve got a
made for themselves this guy he’s
running his own business he’s living the
dream I’m stuck at this crappy job right
somebody else’s life is always better
they don’t see your problems they don’t
see how hard everything is for you they
don’t see how hard it is for you to get
this company up and going so show it to
them not enough fighting like I can’t
believe you’re asking for this kind of
way but in a vulnerable way right make
them feel your pains like I’m struggling
just to keep this thing going I don’t
know where I’m gonna find my next
customer I’m paying X and dollars a
month just to keep this business going
they’re your friend they’re your
Emily’s right make them you can share
this kind of stuff with them
and if they don’t get that then maybe
they’re not as good a friend as you
thought right if they see how vulnerable
and hurting you are to get this company
going and they’re still insisting that
you do everything for them for free like
by tomorrow then that’s not the best
friend in the world for you on top of
that so what else can you do so yes
we’re being honest for being vulnerable
letting them know how hard this is for
you some options okay one you can
consider giving to them at cost or dis
kind of price so they’re not getting it
for free but you’re not making a ton of
money off of them your Prada can’t make
a ton of money off your friends anyway
but you can say hey this is my cost like
for me to come out and do this I’m not
paying myself a huge wage you’re making
anything paying yourself anything you
say just to run my business this is what
it would cost I don’t know what you’re
doing so you do web development so Uncle
Bobby needs a new website see this is
what it would this is what like my
physical costs are to do this to have my
designer create something without
charging a margin on it here’s what it
actually cost me this cost me money is
money out of my pocket so you could at
least charge them cost so they
understand the cost and can make a
decision and so for some people once I
understand even your cost a lot of times
that’s even too much for them and
they’ll back off so that’s first the
second thing is you may want to think
about it only during downtime so with a
lot of service businesses it’s not
consistent where you’re always busy
there’s ups and downs and ups and downs
right and so if you’re adamant that you
want to give them some stuff for free
you could do it during your downtown’s
where you don’t have a lot of business
on the table you may still have all your
overhead and your your team and your
cost so you might as well work on a
project so you can say hey I can do this
for you but it’s not gonna happen until
two months because that’s when things
get a little quiet for me and the last
thing I would think about is treat it
like you would treat helping a friend
with anything else don’t make it part of
your business so there’s an example
buddy of mine asked me to come and help
him demo his basement you know he had a
flood he’s had insurance coming in and
now he has to demo everything out and
rebuild it’s like Ivan can’t come over
and help me tear apart my basement sure
happy to help you because you’re my
friend I’m not gonna charge you a
consulting fee for coming to help you
demo your basement but I’m also not
doing it during my business hours right
I’m not taking Wednesday afternoon at 2
o’clock to go help you demo your
basement all right I’m gonna do it on an
evening or a weekend and so that’s the
time I set aside for my friends and my
family so you could treat it like that
maybe this is an opportunity for you to
be closer to your friend closer to your
family do something together work on
something but it’s not during your
regular work hours if you’re really busy
so those are a few ideas but again it
all comes back to honesty and helping
them understand your situation why this
is hard for you because they’re thinking
he’s got this business he’s doing really
well for himself he’s you know this is
easy for him doesn’t cost him anything
so you have to educate them and come
from a place of vulnerability where they
feel your pain and and feel bad for
asking for free because of how much
suffering is causing you and how much
you really need business and then those
other strategies to help you on top of
that so let me know what you guys think
you know I’m curious how have you
handled friends and family writing in
and saying hey Evan or hey you know
whatever whoever you are give this to me
for free leave a comment let me know how
you’ve handled it so other people can
benefit from it as well you guys like
this video thumbs up below click on my
face this card to the channel thank you
so much I’ll see you soon
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