While running an internet company, my business partner and I handled business
relationships differently. I emphasized having long-term relationships with our
clients based on mutual trust; he went for the quick infusion of cash and was
comfortable inflating our prices to get money in the bank regardless of how our
clients felt about it.
I was more worried about what our clients would think if I raised our prices
and ended up undervaluing our work to keep the clients happy. As a result, we
were often in a cash flow crunch because I was afraid to hurt the relationships
by discussing money.
While relationships are important in business, do you ever wonder if you're
harming your business by putting relationships first?
When Emilie de Azevedo Brown, 36, and her sister first started their company
Two Little Hands
Productions, they had a third business partner helping produce their sign
language videos for children. "As we worked together, we truly became friends,"
says Brown. "As issues arose with how to structure our partnership, we were
hesitant to discuss the details for fear of disagreement and stressing the
relationship."
Brown says that when they couldn't avoid the discussion any longer, they
quickly realized that the other partner was working with different expectations
and assumptions about the business relationship. They ended up parting ways with
the other partner, an experience that wasn't pleasant for any of them.
Julie Subotky, 39, admits she has kept employees too long--even though the
company no longer needed a position or a person wasn't right for the job--simply
because she liked the employee. She's learned from her mistakes, though. "Remove
yourself from the relationship and take a look at what's best for the company,"
says the owner of
Consider It Done, a lifestyle management company.
Judith E. Glaser, author of
The DNA of Leadership, says there are several ways relationships can
hurt a business, including the following situations:
1. Using consensus as a way to avoid difficult conversations could
cause conflict and problems in your business and your relationship if divergent
ideas aren't heard and discussed. In Brown's case, the conflicts weren't clear
early on because she and her partners avoided difficult conversations.
2. Choosing friends to be on a team won't guarantee success. If the
friend lacks the necessary skills to do the job well, says Glaser, "We may miss
the boat because we hired based on relationships."
3. Exhibiting favoritism can create an us-vs.-them feeling among
staff. "Others may watch this play out, and it can cause an environment to
become toxic," says Glaser.
4. Giving in and giving up can stunt your growth. "Sometimes when we
hold relationships so sacred that we don't push for more discussion on something
we feel strongly about, we're risking making the best decisions in favor of
keeping a friend," says Glaser.
Looking back at her own experience, Brown advises that business owners should
never make assumptions. "Have all business arrangements memorialized in a formal
agreement, even if the business relationship is with a friend or family member,"
she says. "That way, there's less room for misunderstandings, and it's easier to
separate the business part of the relationship from the personal part."
As long as you're careful to keep your business top-of-mind and don't shy
away from important discussions and decisions, relationships can be a boon to
your business. "Those men and women who cultivate an interest in others that
goes beyond the task at hand set into place healthy, open and caring dynamics
that often lead to better decisions, better results--and better productivity,"
says Glaser. "And in business, that counts."