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12-31-2013, 08:58 PM #1Aspiring Evangelist
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Your friends = Your business's foes?
Like in any other business, you can't avoid the fact that a friend will buy a service from you. However, sometimes is difficult for both parties to keep business and friendship apart and then the undesirable situation begins:
- Late payments.
- Careless attitude towards service notifications.
- Personal support requests (direct contact by every possible mean, not opening tickets).
- Unusual support requests.
- Discounted prices, but top of the line services expectations (read less forgiving).
And the list can go on.
I just think sometimes that there's nothing left to do but either cry, madly laugh or suck your thumb for a while in a corner before attending to their requests.
In all seriousness, I really try to avoid having any kind of business with friends or acquaintances for the aforementioned situations.
What do you think?
It would be fun to read your experiences, I bet there are many out there.
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12-31-2013, 09:04 PM #2Junior Guru
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I have some friends on my server. Really good friends don't have to pay anything but the domains.
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12-31-2013, 09:19 PM #3Newbie
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It could happen but you would just need to tell them that on your hosting server, its not really about friendship but a business and any missed payments or problems they cause then they will be taken off your hosting. You would just have to hope it doesn't affect your friendship in real life.
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12-31-2013, 09:21 PM #4Web Hosting Master
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W/ friends and family you do one of two things:
A. Do it for free.
B. Don't do it at all.
Pick either A or B.
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12-31-2013, 09:31 PM #5The Linux Specialist
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That means he is not a real good friend. A good friend should respect you and your business.
I have some friends using our services and when I fixed their servers, I never charge them but they insisted in paying it.
Their reason: It's business.
Specially 4 U
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12-31-2013, 09:41 PM #6Junior Guru
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I have a very limited subset of my friends that I would trust enough to even tell them my affiliation with certain websites, due to problems that has caused in the past, but in the case those friends wanted to use my services they'd be more then welcome to them for free, including domains.
Thus: for most of my friends I don't think it'd be a good idea to mix business as they're the type to want something out of it themselves, but the friends that I do tell, my closer friends, are the type to insist on paying for the service they want anyways and would not accept my free account.
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12-31-2013, 10:21 PM #7Web Hosting Master
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I wouldn't charge my friends (fortunately the issue has not come up) however given the conflict of interests I would feel really awkward hosting my friend's site(s) in the first place.
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12-31-2013, 10:23 PM #8Junior Guru
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12-31-2013, 10:26 PM #9Newbie
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Id probably provide discounted services to my friends and if they were unable to pay, id probably just talk to them about it and then explain that your going to stop hosting his site but in a nicest way possible.
Last edited by flambeur1; 12-31-2013 at 10:30 PM.
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01-01-2014, 12:09 AM #10Disabled
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Yes I have had extensive experience with the first three items you mentioned on the list.
I get really upset when friend-clients refuse to open a support ticket. They say to me "I just told you it. Why do I need to open a ticket?". And when they do open a ticket, it's usually done hastily and doesn't provide much useful information (e.g. "My site is broken"). I have to explain that they need to open a ticket because I'm not working at the time I am talking to them (you'd think this would be obvious to them).
I've had some personal friend-clients who would order the service, pay the initial invoice, then not pay any of the subsequent invoices. This aggravated me, but I never shut off their service. They expect the same leniency that we have in our friendship but as customers of my business. Unfortunately for them, I expect any clients (whether we're friends or not) to respect my business enough to pay their invoices on time.
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01-01-2014, 09:45 AM #11Junior Guru
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01-01-2014, 09:51 AM #12Web Hosting Master
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01-01-2014, 10:03 AM #13Disabled
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01-01-2014, 10:46 AM #14Junior Guru
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But that's what the ticket system is
It's a system you set up to facilitate communication between them as users and the tech support team, which is the definition of 'liaison'?
It's hard to explain 'why are you still accepting new orders' then. Do what I do - I tell very few friends my affiliation with my online business. Those few friends are close enough that I wouldn't mind paying out of my own expenses to provide them with a hosting account (should they ask for one) and wouldn't mind manually showing them the ropes of such account. (On the contrary, I'd want to show them around, if they actually had any interest in websites..)
Anyone else I simply don't even tell. Some creepier ones manage to find it anyways, but I tell them that they are free to choose from the offers available on my site and nothing special will be extended.
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01-01-2014, 01:16 PM #15Disabled
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If you're not willing to make special accommodations for your friends/family, don't offer them free or deeply discounted services because that's just opening the door for them to believe that they're truly going to be your #1 priority when it comes to tech support and will have high expectations.
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01-01-2014, 03:15 PM #16WHT Addict
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This topic really got my attention, I had about 10 websites running free, But Last week I decided to suspend all pending payment accounts. Most of which belong to my friends.
I some time just tell people that I'm just a Technical assistant there, so I can't change stuff In the system. And I let the billing system suspend their services.
It's a pain sometime hosting free sites. Especially when It comes to transfers.Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
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01-01-2014, 06:41 PM #17Junior Guru Wannabe
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That proves to be just a way to find out who your real friends are.
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01-02-2014, 01:41 AM #18Web Hosting Master
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Business and friends should not go in the same sentence unless both sides have REAL respect for each other.
Years ago I had a friend who became a studio client. At the end of the session I was going to give him a discount. He refused the discount and said he wants to see my business stay in business.
Around friends and family, I just tell them I do online work...that's it. The ominous safe wall to preserve the friendship.
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01-02-2014, 02:53 PM #19Junior Guru Wannabe
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I have few friends who really pay me, I don't ask them to pay but they pay me.
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01-02-2014, 03:06 PM #20Web Hosting Master
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Friends! even i host my university web site Free for some time
+1 @48-14
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01-02-2014, 06:23 PM #21Disabled
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If your friend don't understand you just don't provide him service.. Say him.. go on my website and pay from there. You are same as other clients for me.
Cause this is business.. They have to respect.
By the way.. i don't work with friends.
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01-08-2014, 03:33 PM #22WHT Addict
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My friends does not even know/understand what I own/do. However, I would give them a free hosting, if they ever asked me.
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01-08-2014, 10:59 PM #23The E-Commerce Answer Guy
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I think employing friends & family is even tougher than having them as a clients. That's where the MASTER CAUTION annunciators really start to flash for me.
My wife & I have done (and still do) business with both family and friends but I am not too keen on hiring them as employees. The problem with that is that you're dealing with their livelihoods. And sadly, some of them will try to abuse it. And what happens if they show up late to work and the other employees come in on time? If you show them special treatment or cut them some slack, it will severely damage everyone's morale and if you punish them or fire them - you're the bad guy to the relative. It's a no win situation. Good relationships can be completely ruined because of these kinds of situations.CDGcommerce.com - Trusted Merchant Account Solutions since 1998
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01-09-2014, 04:52 AM #24New Member
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I don't think so, I think being strict with friends and family is the proper way to do things. If you're going to hire-family, or friends. You need to set some strict guidelines.
You need to talk to them eye-to-eye, and completely be level with them. 1. When employing them, you treat them as employees, you're paying them. They work for their money. You should make that clear.
"Bad person" or not, I think it'd be best to simply foot your footdown. If they can't understand that simple logic. Then you need to pull them aside, and explain to them in detail WHY you can't.
As for friends for clients, my current business has no more than one or two clients. Both of which are friends. I've ran on it, but I've been terrible with marketing, and it's been a hobby I've been trying to push to a more active level.
My friends pay me, when they can. The rules for them using my services is: Pay me, you don't have to. I treat them like customers. It works out really well too, because they advertise to their friends.
They operate under a subdomain of my site. Free- so essentially it's the best advertising I can do.
-- I think this goes off topic from here on.
My family is full of business owners, to some degree. Got a sibling who makes bows and little things like that. Makes quite a bit of money, I really tried to push my services to them. But they don't- or haven't come to a need at an attempt to market their goods online.
My parents whom have gotten of age are attempting to do their own business. But they don't know the first thing about internet based solutions.
It can be difficult when you're dealing with up-and-coming developing individuals. The most challenging part is balancing the whole lot of it. Family, and friends. While trying to maintain professionalism.
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01-10-2014, 06:51 AM #25Temporarily Suspended
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I hear you on this buddy, i had friends even skipping invoices but i believe once you do act professional, thin line appears which does solve things.
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