I have something that is really getting under my skin. And I know that it will be resolved in some form tomorrow, but I have to express how I feel. Let me know if this makes any sense.
The question is on business etiquette. Now I consider myself to be a polite and respectful person. I normally avoid conflict and try to handle situations in a mature and amicable manner. However once in a while I get pushed over the edge and I explode. Now I just need to know……..what is the appropriate way to explode. Because I am battling with the concept.
I’m not sure that I want to share the exact circumstances, but the basic concept is. How can you work with someone (I’m taking business partners, not work colleagues) without sharing the same values and beliefs. And if you realise that you don’t share the same beliefs and you address the situation in a polite and respectful way…………over…………..and…………….over…………….AGAIN! When is it okay to be brutally honest (explode) and see if that makes a difference.
Let me give you a senario. You and I have decided to start a sweet shop. We have discussed it at great length and you have assured me that you know lots and lots and lots of people who will buy the sweets. I have assured you that I have acess to lots and lots of delicious sweets. So we agree that a great partnership MUST be formed and we go ahead with the agreement. I immediatly start to work very very hard at finding these sweets and you continue to assure me that customers will soon be available to by the sweets.
Although, you never actually send me any customers, and I never seems to have any comunication from you. So I politely sit you down and explain my concern. In response you supply me with the contact numbers of a few people you know. So I call them, take thier orders, negotiate pricing……….. and what do you know they love the sweets,Happy days!
But hang on wait……you still want you 50% of the profit. And you see absolutely no reason why you should not get it. I end up feeling used, angry and unsupported. So how should I react to you now. Should I sit you down and politely tell you that I feel this way, or should I just tell you exactly how I am feeling.
When is it time to stop beating around the bush and tell people how it is.
So my problem is that….I did! I told it like it is, and the reponse was a defensive one. Was I wrong? Should I have said it in a more polite way. If you can see that a business relationship is not a good fit, how do you end it, or express yourself and still come out ‘clean’.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: business
Ginger, I am not of sound mind at this exact moment, after an evening of self pity & attempting to self destruct/cover my pain by drinking my ENTIRE liquor cabinet, but this is what I think……..
The defensive response is a natural one,perhaps once whoever this is has time to clam down and reflect, you will probably get a totally different response.
I am a VERY direct type of person, I cannot pretend when it comes to my emotions, I cannot keep quiet for the sake of keeping the peace,it goes against my grain, I have to at all times be emotionally honest with the people arond me. Personally, I think its a good trait and you should be proud of yourself for standing up for yourself and what you believe in. There is NOTHING wrong with that!!! You Go Girl!!!!!!!!
HI,
I agree! I think it was completly right that you stood up for yourself. We often let people walk all over us because we dont want to ‘hurt’ there feelings etc but what about what it is doing to you? It hurt you for doing all the work with out the benifits and no one else will stand up for your rights.
I beleive that you are a good person but you cant be ‘nice’ all the time some times some good a$$ kicking is what is needed to get somewhere in this world.
love ya lots
i find it very difficult to stand up to others but if you unhappy about something and its making you upset and angry i think its best you get it off your chest early on in the partnership
I don’t know how I missed this post but I hope that my 2 cents is welcomed anyway…
If you have gone into a business partnership with someone, I’m hoping that you have paperwork laid out outlining the needs and expectations from each party? If your partner did not pull his/her weight and you ended up doing all the work resulting in generating the revenue then they cannot expect to still draw 50% of the profit…
I think that in a business partnership there is no room for worrying about peoples feelings – this is about business, it is not about you not liking that person it is about generating the revenue to keep the business afloat, if your partner is not mature enough to deal with an open and honest business partnership (especially considering you have raised this issue a few times it seems) then perhaps it is time to re-think the partnership?
Hope this gets sorted out my friend!
xxx
I agree with Samcy about the need for a contract — if you don’t already have a contract with clear expectations for each of you, you need one immediately before moving forward. The number of clients that they will provide per week/month, the supply of sweets you will provide, and what happens if those quotas are not met. If they provide X demand and you do not provide a matching supply, you would get penalized in terms of profits. If they provide only Y demand instead of the expected X, they would get penalized. And lay out what their role must include — actually contacting the clients themselves, or only providing contact numbers.
I’m afraid that if you haven’t established a contract to date, you may need to give 50% of profits for the sales so far (since they can argue that they provided the phone numbers for the clients), but that can change once a contract is established and they don’t live up to the expectations in the future.
Good luck, and congrats on one month smoke-free!