Have you ever had your friends as clients?

hitmeasap Level X⁵

July 5, 2016, 8:06 pm

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Have you ever had your friends as clients?

Hey fantastic SEOClerks users,
I just thought I'd ask.. Have you ever sold something to your friends?

Did you threat them as any other client?
Did you give them a discount?
Did they ask for a discount?

I personally have done this a couple of times in the past, but I won't do it in the future. Ever. Something like this tends to only cause problems, perhaps for both of you as friends, or due to you selling your services too cheap, just because you are friends.

Share your experiences. Do you think it's a good idea?

Best Regards,
hitmeasap

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angie828

I personally do not think that it is a wise idea. I often feel that friends will think that they get extras from services. Or that they do not have to pay at all. One prime example that I have is in my free time, I like to paint cavases. I had posted some of my work on Facebook and a family member of mine asked if I would make her one. I agreed and she paid me what I wanted to be paid. Then a friend saw that post and asked me to do a painting for her. I agreed, and when I gave the painting to her, she was all happy, showing it off, but never once asked what she had owed me. I did not mind painting it for her as I really enjoyed it, but it was the point that I took my time to do it, so she should have paid me like everyone else!
I would not offer them a discount if I were to serve them and I would treat them as any other client. In my eyes, if they want the service, they will pay for it just as they would pay from someone that they did not know.

8 years ago

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Everett

Business and friendship is often weird when it mixes. The friend most likely thought that they didn't need to pay because you were a friend. I would feel extremely awkward in that situation if I thought I would receive payment. They think you're doing a nice favor for them, and thinking it's free but the canvases are not free, nor are the brushes and paint. I would at least give something, or buy you something you wanted in exchange because for you to give away free paintings you are actually losing quite a bit of money and time.

8 years ago

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angie828

That is exactly how I felt. I love to paint but yes it was my time and money! But yet I did not want to ask her for money either. That was really awkward. So I just left it be. I do paint for my family and they pay me, so I would have thought that this friend would have at least offered something, but she is very cheap and watches her money closely.

8 years ago

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danigo

i personal thought its quite a wise opinion. i often said ' friends are priority" , from that i would give them extras then others services,i agree that if our friends also support us by ordering from us,
so in my mind iam put my friends first however the conditions,,

8 years ago

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hitmeasap

Hi danigo,
Everyone has right to their own opinions and I appreciate that you're sharing your thoughts here. That said, how about issues with friends? How about making less profits by providing them discounts and all that? Is that something you've encountered? How did it affect your friendship?

I do agree on the part to support friends, but do if you provide them cheap services, offer them huge discounts or double the amount of content for instance, that would mean you support your friends indeed. But how does that affect you? Are your friends supporting you in that scenario?

8 years ago

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TommyCarey

I actually did a website for one of my good friends who has his own company. I did his last design and he came back and wanted something new that was responsive and more corporate looking.

Did you treat them as any other client?
Not at first. I treated, and talked, to him like he was just my friend and I was helping him out with his website. We would go out to lunch and joke around like it were a normal day and we were just hanging out, and when we were finished eating we would go over the design. A few times we would make excuses to go out to lunch and talk about how the website was coming along because he could expense the lunch on his business card lol

Did you give them a discount?
I did, but only because he is one of the founders of his company and owns 50% of it. If he were just an employee, or higher up, I would have charged full price. I gave them around 40% off on their design because I've been good friends with him since 2004.

Did they ask for a discount?
He did ask for a discount, but he knew he was going to get one because I'm not a jerk

I actually told him I'd do a website for him at a discounted price if he ever needed one, and that's why he contacted me first. He could have paid much less if he outsourced it overseas, but he wanted to work with me since we're friends, there's no language barrier, and he knows I do good work

I don't think I would do it again because it put stress on our friendship. I didn't make him sign a contract because we are friends, but I wasn't friends with his partner and that's where it started to get annoying. My friend would tell me things that needed to be done as we're working on the website, and it was mainly his partner asking him to tell us. We knew what we were doing, but his partner would see one word misspelled and freak out. After a little bit of stress I started talking to him like he was a client and not a friend because he started giving me deadlines on when to finish or he wasn't going to pay. I didn't make them sign a contract and they were giving me deadlines on something they got a 40% discount on.... I actually did a website for one of my good friends who has his own company. I did his last design and he came back and wanted something new that was responsive and more corporate looking. [b]Did you treat them as any other client?[/b] Not at first. I treated, and talked, to him like he was just my friend and I was helping him out with his website. We would go out to lunch and joke around like it were a normal day and we were just hanging out, and when we were finished eating we would go over the design. A few times we would make excuses to go out to lunch and talk about how the website was coming along because he could expense the lunch on his business card lol :D [b]Did you give them a discount?[/b] I did, but only because he is one of the founders of his company and owns 50% of it. If he were just an employee, or higher up, I would have charged full price. I gave them around 40% off on their design because I've been good friends with him since 2004. [b]Did they ask for a discount?[/b] He did ask for a discount, but he knew he was going to get one because I'm not a jerk :D I actually told him I'd do a website for him at a discounted price if he ever needed one, and that's why he contacted me first. He could have paid much less if he outsourced it overseas, but he wanted to work with me since we're friends, there's no language barrier, and he knows I do good work :D I don't think I would do it again because it put stress on our friendship. I didn't make him sign a contract because we are friends, but I wasn't friends with his partner and that's where it started to get annoying. My friend would tell me things that needed to be done as we're working on the website, and it was mainly his partner asking him to tell us. We knew what we were doing, but his partner would see one word misspelled and freak out. After a little bit of stress I started talking to him like he was a client and not a friend because he started giving me deadlines on when to finish or he wasn't going to pay. I didn't make them sign a contract and they were giving me deadlines on something they got a 40% discount on....

8 years ago

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Everett

I never had my friends as clients as I have a small circle of friends who could care less about the internet or have no idea how to use the internet at it's full potential. Also, in regards to above statements, yes I would have to agree. I wouldn't have my friends as my clients for several factors including the ones already mentioned. But I would be more concerned about the lost of friendship to do something going wrong with the service, or whatever it was they were purchasing. I also wouldn't want my friend to use me just to get cheap things for them.

8 years ago

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superpower

No, never i can't make business among our friends, business partner is okay but not as a client. I am developing a website with the help of our friends, in this i am treating them as the partners not as the clients. I can share something among them but can,t charge or pay to them, this is my personal view in what i feel comfortable.

8 years ago

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EliteWriter

No I never had any friends of mine, or relatives, who needed my services, and I believe it is a good thing that they did not because otherwise I would have been too conscious as to whether I was going to impress them or not with the quality of the work. And then there is that price issue. Being friends they would expect that you give them some special price, and frankly I do not really care whether he/she is a friend or not because all my clients are important to me, and my limited time is of the essence.

8 years ago

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ajlancer

Hi hitmeasap thanks for your nice sharing. I do not know what do you mean as friends? If you mean local friends who also working on online and purchased something from you? yes I got a friends on SEOclerks and he purchased service from me couple of times and I never get him discount. On the other hand after joining here on SEOclerks I got so many return buyer and who purchased service from me last few years and they become now as friends and I get them discount for specific service. But, for getting discount out of known client, I offer free services e.g. buy 2 and get 1 free. And 10% discount forever for those buyers who purchased 10 times from me and leave nice feedback with recommendation.
So, I think treat or discount or free offer by condition is good idea for increasing sale.

Regards by Ajlancer

8 years ago

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hitmeasap

Hello Ajlancer,
What I mean by friends is your friends in real life, relatives or perhaps even family members.

I do see your point by giving your recurring customers discounts or a free service if they purchase two at the same time and all that. I do understand it's a great way to build trust and reputation, along with being a professional. However, this topic wasn't really about that.

This topic was more about if you would ever do work for your closest friends, your family members or relatives. And what kind of things that could go wrong by doing that.

Thank you for your nice reply though

Best Regards,
hitmeasap

8 years ago

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Lynne

I've done work for friends and family before but not just with online work. I worked for my father on and off for 10 years in the family business. And I still do his books for his farm which is not the family business

I used to do my sister's books when she had another company and that went fine, plus I also did the books for a few friends too, this also went fine.

My sister has done loads of online work for me and soon I am going to do some work for her.

I do think it depends on the type of relationship you have with your family and friends... for me it worked out fine but I have seen so many other people come short when mixing business with family and friends which is really sad.

8 years ago

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CryptoGuru

this is a topic that involves a little more hands on experience cause dealing with friends can be either really good and beneficial for you or it could be some trouble down the stretch. see dealing with those that are closest too you involves some or a lot of patience and depending on the service and what is being asked kind plays a big role on how things play out. you want to make sure your friends and hey even family are taken care of just make sure that your also taking care of yourself don't get taken advantage of

8 years ago

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vinaya

Currently, I am working for a client who has been my friend for four years. INterestingly, this client is my virtual friend, I have never met her, however, we are in very cordial terms. We are clear about our working conditions. She offers me work, after checking the work I calculate the time and effort I have to put and then give my price. When my charge is higher than the budget, she makes a suggestion and I usually agree.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

You can imagine the haggling of my friends when I was selling clothing items. It is natural for friends to do that and I was not offended in any way even if sometimes the price they ask is lower than the capital for that item. During those days, selling was just for fun to me and I enjoy earning a little from my investment. That was the start of my boutique business and that was mostly from the support I got from my friends.

6 years ago

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