experience is a mighty teacher...

just because a business is small, it doesn't need to be naive.

but sometimes, as small business owners/operators, we choose this path on our own. it's not a lack of experience, usually, that causes this. more often than not, i find that my fellow small business owners, and clients run their businesses as if every client was a friend.

truly, we want it to be that way. we want each and every customer who comes to us to trust us to take good care of them/their projects. and so we, unwittingly, trust them to do the same for us. we trust that they will respect the time we invest in their projects, and the resources that we invest into serving their needs.

and most of the time it works out just fine. most of the time.

but then there comes a day for each of us where experience must be the mighty teacher that puts our ideals and priorities where they belong. it could be the client that kept asking for a little more, and a little more and a little more, until finally you realize you have lost money on the project. it could be a customer who repeatedly takes your time for initial meetings for projects that never materialize. or sometimes, it comes from a client with all the best intentions, who has a rug pulled out from underneath them, taking the project away from you after you have invested yourself in it.

whatever the cause, eventually it seems we all come around to realizing the reality...while our clients and customers are good people at heart, they do not work for us. WE work for us. WE are the ones who have to make our businesses produce at a profit. WE are the ones who have to take the steps to ensure that we DO MAKE a profit.

sometimes, in order to meet that goal, we need to safeguard ourselves from the potential losses. we can do this by running our businesses as BUSINESSES. with every interaction, remember to weigh out your investment in a new deal with the potential outcome, and try to get the return that justifies it... charge for meetings that run over an hour, or warn that you will so that they can be kept brief; ask for partial payments up front with new clients; don't give away your product/service without written guarantees of payments/work...depending on your service or product, there are ways for you to ensure that the time and dollars you invest in a customer or project can come back to you.

you must do this, or you won't be able to BE a small business for long.

i realize this isn't exactly a marketing lesson, but it is an important one for all of us who run our own companies to realize. we must look out for each other as small businesses, surely. but at the same time, don't put yourself last on the list.