Why You Should Pay Full Price When Supporting Those You Love

Learning to say NO to the Friends and Family Discount

Any small business owner knows the struggle of juggling multiple projects and facing new challenges every single freakin day. This is rewarding and hard work. It seems like there is a new cost to doing business at every turn.

Then your beloved support group comes at you for a discount! The ones who love and nurture you. The ones who see all the hard work you do.

You are not a corporation and cannot offer the same discounts those places do. It’s completely unreasonable for them to ask, and it’s okay to say NO.

Small business is the backbone of our nation. We love supporting our neighborhood pub and shopping at the family toy store down the way. Almost any service you need has a host of local companies ready to go that extra mile for you.

Sure a local company doesn’t offer the same price and perks that you sometimes get from a big corporation, but they do offer that personal touch. When you decide to shop at a local retailer, $68 of every $100 goes back into your local economy. The 3/50 Project has a simple list of ways that show how you directly affect the area you live in by the way you shop.

It feels good supporting our neighbors and friends when and where we can. You can see that by buying carpet from the local provider you are helping support an actual family, much like your own, that needs money for swim lessons or piano. It’s also fun to see them around town, giving you a wider understanding of the circle we all rely on to support and lift others up.

So what’s up with the friends and family discount?

Shouldn’t we want to support our family and friends in their business more than we want to give our money to some conglomerate no face corporation?

I remembered when I owned my first business I was shocked at how often I was asked for a deal. Worse, how many times people would throw out a random price at me like I was wheelin and dealin with them.

Working in restaurants you hear this all the time. People love to come in and say how they know the owner. Insider tip, if you are eating at a local restaurant lots of people know the owner. It doesn’t make you special. In my mind, I think knowing the owner should make you more willing to pay full price for the service.

There’s an idea out there that small business owners have a lot of money and this is simply not true. They are juggling a lot and their work doesn’t start and stop at a certain time. They are always working and get none of the benefits associated with a full-time job.

Nothing beats being your own boss, but it can be exhausting, and the last thing you want is for all your friends and family to nickel and dime you for a discount.

Support your friends and family by paying full price.

The benefit will bleed out into the community and raise us all.

If offered you can, of course, use their discount but it shouldn’t be expected. Most local businesses offer a lot that the big guys can’t.

• A personal touch
• An actual human to talk to
• Quick response time
• Local charm and quirkiness
• An understanding of the area and its needs
• Delivering more than what was expected
• Better customer service
• Personal care

And isn’t that enough? You work hard and don’t want to be undervalued so why undervalue what your friends and family have invested their time and life too?

I get it, we are all looking to stretch our dollar, and there are many ways to do this outside of getting that extra 10% off at your nephew’s coffee shop.

As a freelancer I work hard to make sure I deliver the best results for my clients, in turn, they are happy and refer me to others. It’s a great way to make a living. I choose to give a discount in my pricing for retainer customers or when I’m bundling a couple of services together. Why? Because it works for everyone involved. I get to decide. If I offer that to a friend or family member that should be enough. No one should determine what I should offer them but me.

If you don’t plan on paying the bills for your friend or family member then don’t ask for a discount. Let them direct that conversation and happily pay whatever the bill. Offering you a discount is not their responsibility. If you don’t find value in their prices move along.

My sister’s in real estate and does extremely well. Occasionally an obscure family member comes along and acts like their doing her a favor by using her services. They try to barter the percent rate when really because they’re family she’s doing more work to keep things kosher within family relations.

We all see things differently, but it’s better to stand by your prices and let them decide if they want to support you at your full rate. You will find that when people trust you and your business to deliver they will be less interested in a discount.

When I bought my Subaru every other lot in town was offering 0% interest for the first 12 months. Not Subaru, they know. And they got my business regardless of the deal and I am perfectly happy with it 6 years later.

You are worth your ask, and those that support and love you will happily pay or you find the customers that will. They are out there, in need of what you do, and will see your value and understand what you do. Go find them.