BREAK AWAY FROM THE FRIENDS ZONE IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS

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What works better for your business? Working with friends or working with business partners?
 
 
We all strive to turn every client into a friend. But can we turn all our friends into clients?
 
 
How can we solve our friends-clients dilemma?
 
 
In this writeup, I’ll be blunt. No niceties.
 
 
When you have a new business idea, who do you tell first? Your friends are usually the first you tell.  
 
 
When you have a new product, who do you contact first? Your friends right!
 
 
What role do friends play in your business?
 
 
When you hear stories about Microsoft, Facebook, Google, and other great companies on how they started, you hear stories like how they started with information shared with 2 or more friends.
 
 
The story about how several companies started is a similar pattern for many. They inform their close friends, family, and colleagues at work if possible. But in most cases, only a few friends buy the idea and stay with them all the way.
 
 
When you start up your small business, it is normal for you to first show your new products or services to your friends to make them sign up or at least buy your product. More often than not friends fail to sign up.
 
 
Some few friends may sign up to your business idea, they could join you or they could pick a product, but only a few take it seriously.
 
 
In the world of marketing, sales, and doing business, our first point of call is our friends. The truth is friends fail you. 
 
 
But the bitter truth is you are lazy.
 
 
Yes, you heard me right. You are lazy.
 
 
Most people normally take their business to close friends and family first because they love the comfort zone. And most times they are disappointed. And they get discouraged because those who they thought should love their business idea fail to do so.
 
 
I tell you, the best your friends and family can offer is their moral support. They offer little words of encouragement here and there just to show they love you. Some blunt friends will criticize you for what you are doing.
 
 
Like I said above, you are lazy, that is why you stick to the friend’s zone.
 
 
A lot of people give up when their friends don’t patronize them. It’s after they experience the shock of disappointment that they get the sense to move on to others, and for some, they shut down their business out of frustration.
 
 
I must tell you, don’t stop right there. In the world of selling your business idea, you must go past the friend zone to get to the client zone.
 
 
It takes hard work and smart strategies to get those clients coming.
 
 
We all live by selling. In the world of sales, you must go past your friends and take your services to the strangers out there and turn them into loyal clients.
 
 
You must leave your comfort zone
 
 
Your friends are too familiar with you and maybe too comfortable going all out to stick their neck for you. They still see that naughty you. What do you expect? They are your buddies. Only a few got your back and only that few make business partners with you or become loyal clients. But on the flip side, you must go all out to find new people.
 
 
Thank God for the internet, there are many ways to get your products seen out there. Social media has helped a lot to solve a lot of marketing problems.
 
 
Not all your close friends on Facebook or Instagram is the ideal client, some will come out of your marketing efforts. Your network of friends is a potential source of clients though.
 
 
One of my mentors said, “Your network is your net worth.” What that means is that the number of people in your network determines the value that you can get. But you need to reach out to them.
 
 
You may be wondering what can you do with all your 100’s of friends online. Not everyone will sign up but what if only 10% answer the call. It’s a good deal right?
 
 
Not everyone needs you or your product. 
 
 
But there is someone out there who will say “this is just who I’m looking for”, or “this is just the product I’m looking for”.
 
 
The clients you get out of your marketing efforts eventually are the ones who will pay you more.
 
 
Your close friends may not pay you or they will ask for too much discount.
 
 
You can’t run a business on credit. Some friends will pay you in miserable bits and others expect free service. They will say what are friends for?
 
 
Please break away from the friend’s zone if you don’t want to be a total loser.
 
 
Jesus Christ in the Bible did not call his first disciples from among his friends. He called total strangers, gave them a vision and transformed them into missionaries and they were the men who carried His vision around the world. The scripture said He could not perform miracles in His hometown because they only saw a Carpenter’s son and not God’s son (The Saviour).
 
 
The best you can do is to transform friends into business partners and let them know you mean business. When you mean business it means no time for play because it’s serious business you are into. 
 
 
The truth is most people don’t know how to market their business or products. They only stick to those people they are familiar with. But if you want to take your business to the next level you need to take drastic steps to promote your business.
 
 
If you don’t know how to, learn how to.
I’ll introduce you to someone who can help you take your business to a whole new level. He is no other person than Emeka Nobis. He can coach you to help create contents to promote your business idea, draw prospects to you and build influence.

 

You can access him on his website www.emekanobis.com

Do this and thank me later.

But first, break away from the friends’ zone.

 

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