Doing business with friends and family

There’s an old saying that’s floated around the business world for ages now. It says that you should “never do business with friends or family.”

I agree and disagree.  If the world were a perfect place you should only do business with friends and family: with people you trust, admire, enjoy being around, and with people who make you laugh. One the flip side, it’s tough when you make a mistake or your friend forgets to make a payment. The idea is that we should keep our work and social lives separate. We wouldn’t want to get into a financial dispute with our neighbor or see a friendship end over a business deal.

We are fortunate that most of our family and friends want to support our business. But I also want to convey that in the insurance industry the overriding factor is typically price. And if my product is more expensive and we are comparing apples to apples with another agency then I have no problem telling my friend to shop elsewhere.

In the end, you might consider which type of relationship is easier to form. Is it easier for you to find a friend or to find a customer? Is it easier to find a friend or to find a company to do business with? Personally, I find good friends harder to find.  I find business relationships to be much more transient; once the business relationship ends, there is no further relationship. Does this mean that no business relationship can develop into a friendship? No, I am simply suggesting that friendships require maintenance and when the focus becomes business, the friendship often gets neglected.

Call us to get a quote on your insurance – whether it be home, auto, commercial, boat, windstorm, flood or motorcycle – we do it all. Ask for Russell Jr. (979) 297-2655 or visit us at www.bestinsurancetx.com