How Much For One Rib?--- Stop Lowballing Small Business Owners
With some business transactions, it is appropriate to haggle for a bargain; like rummage sales, auctions, car dealerships, Craig's list, antique shops, etc. but there are places you would not dream to even haggle like a restaurant, grocery store, a big box store (unless the item is an open box item, discontinued or damaged). You pay the price that is set (hopefully, the store or manufacturer has it on sale), but the appropriate way to get it discounted is by following that sale price, use rebates or coupons that are tied to the item. Even coupons have stipulations to them, people really go to jail for coupon fraud, but I will go into that on another post. Today, I want to advocate for the small business owners. When it comes to the art of negotiating, you have to be able to distinguish between what is appropriate and what is tacky.
You may be shocked that I don't go by the "Everything is negotiable" rule because I am frugal, but I am a small business owner first. Just put yourself in a small business owner's shoes for a moment. My small business is graphic design. I have been contacted by an old classmate who asked for "A Curie discount" before. I've had family members who felt that I should slave over my computer for days for free (or next to free), managers of music artists who didn't want to pay me for my time and talents because I was a fan of the music, and also friends of friends who needed a website for their own small business, yet they did not want to pay my already reasonable price. Strangers have even asked for a discount because "Sistas gotta stick together". Building websites takes hours, days and can even take weeks depending on what they want, so imagine putting in at the minimum of 12 hours of your time and creativity for just $50 (yes, someone asked me to do a website for $50 and what they were asking for was a $500 website that would have taken me a few days to complete. That wage wouldn't have even been $1 an hour). It is insulting, disrespectful and has to stop.
Small business owners have to take time away from their families to do a service, and they won't even pay them enough to feed their families. I admit, in the far past, I did honor discounts, but when I started feeling the profit loss royally, it really made me think, "Why would you sell yourself so short?" I put out quality work, a lot of time and a lot of creativity. That is worth every penny that I ask for, if not more. I've always kept my prices competitive, but when I started cheating myself, I had to put an end to some things. Even when I request a service from a planner, musician, baker, or any other small business owner, I tell them what I want to be done and let THEM name their price. If I felt that their price might be too high for my request, I will tell them that I will get back to them and get quotes from other business owners who render the same services and then decide who I will go with in the end. I think that process is better than asking for "An old friend discount". When I do get back with them after the quotes from others, I may casually say "Another vendor quoted me this price", and then they may say "I can give it to you at that price", or they may not. When I was looking for contractors for my bathroom renovation, I contacted three contractors. At first, I contacted a contractor that I met through Task Rabbit in the past. I didn't contact him through the app this time but through his business card. He gave me a low priced quote but shortly after, he ended up breaking his wrist on another job so he couldn't do my reno. I contacted a second contractor (a contractor that my father uses regularly) and he quoted me a low price very close to the first contractor's quote. I began to think back on the time I was watching him do the bathroom reno in my previous home and he took a lot of short cuts. The end result may have looked good, but things started falling apart within months. I am a detail-oriented person and I want things done right, even if it is unseen, it has to be done right. No cheap short cuts because you're going to end up paying for it again in the long run. I remembered how my former classmate (who has a home renovation company) repaired my son's ceiling a few years ago. He and his crew were professional, thorough and fast. I told him what I wanted, he got back with me with a quote, and initially, I thought that it was a lot higher than the previous two quotes. I then thought, that he didn't give me a "rip off" price either, he has a crew so all of them have to get paid, and that was actually not a bad price because I did have a laundry list of things to do. My response to his price was "Okay, let's do it". I didn't say "Do I get a Curie discount?" From one small business owner to another, I respected his quote and I also respected that he fit me in his busy schedule to complete my bathroom. I do NOT regret going with him, not only did he and his crew knock it out in less than two days (because it was four of them) but when I was on site, I watched how detail-oriented they were. They put as much care and love into my bathroom as if it was their own. For that, I am very grateful. I would use them again and again. So to make a short story shorter, respect people's livelihoods. I saw a post by a Facebook friend name Inez that said "When you support a small business, an actual person does a happy dance" and I believe that to be true.
Small business owners have to take time away from their families to do a service, and they won't even pay them enough to feed their families. I admit, in the far past, I did honor discounts, but when I started feeling the profit loss royally, it really made me think, "Why would you sell yourself so short?" I put out quality work, a lot of time and a lot of creativity. That is worth every penny that I ask for, if not more. I've always kept my prices competitive, but when I started cheating myself, I had to put an end to some things. Even when I request a service from a planner, musician, baker, or any other small business owner, I tell them what I want to be done and let THEM name their price. If I felt that their price might be too high for my request, I will tell them that I will get back to them and get quotes from other business owners who render the same services and then decide who I will go with in the end. I think that process is better than asking for "An old friend discount". When I do get back with them after the quotes from others, I may casually say "Another vendor quoted me this price", and then they may say "I can give it to you at that price", or they may not. When I was looking for contractors for my bathroom renovation, I contacted three contractors. At first, I contacted a contractor that I met through Task Rabbit in the past. I didn't contact him through the app this time but through his business card. He gave me a low priced quote but shortly after, he ended up breaking his wrist on another job so he couldn't do my reno. I contacted a second contractor (a contractor that my father uses regularly) and he quoted me a low price very close to the first contractor's quote. I began to think back on the time I was watching him do the bathroom reno in my previous home and he took a lot of short cuts. The end result may have looked good, but things started falling apart within months. I am a detail-oriented person and I want things done right, even if it is unseen, it has to be done right. No cheap short cuts because you're going to end up paying for it again in the long run. I remembered how my former classmate (who has a home renovation company) repaired my son's ceiling a few years ago. He and his crew were professional, thorough and fast. I told him what I wanted, he got back with me with a quote, and initially, I thought that it was a lot higher than the previous two quotes. I then thought, that he didn't give me a "rip off" price either, he has a crew so all of them have to get paid, and that was actually not a bad price because I did have a laundry list of things to do. My response to his price was "Okay, let's do it". I didn't say "Do I get a Curie discount?" From one small business owner to another, I respected his quote and I also respected that he fit me in his busy schedule to complete my bathroom. I do NOT regret going with him, not only did he and his crew knock it out in less than two days (because it was four of them) but when I was on site, I watched how detail-oriented they were. They put as much care and love into my bathroom as if it was their own. For that, I am very grateful. I would use them again and again. So to make a short story shorter, respect people's livelihoods. I saw a post by a Facebook friend name Inez that said "When you support a small business, an actual person does a happy dance" and I believe that to be true.
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