For the Love of Toxic Business Relationships
As Christmas approaches, it's very important to keep in mind toxic relationships. I was reminded of how a former friend tried to "reconcile" because it was nearing Christmas. I'm also reminded of some people who seem who have a deadly obsession with toxic business relationships. Some time ago, I tried to talk sense to someone about having a toxic business relationship. I told the person that if the relationship is toxic--cut it off. However, the person only replied that she was feeling sorry for the person because of her toxic partner's huge capital invested. Well, isn't it the rule of investment to invest only what you don't need now? The toxic relationship persisted which caused a huge drain in the money of the person.
There's also the false statement that the customer is always right. Unfortunately, that phrase is so wrong on many levels. You may have inconsiderate customers who cut in line. You may have tenants who don't pay rent at the right time. You may have customers who violate the no leftover policy. There are many ways customers themselves can be toxic. It's important to treat your customer right. However, to let the customer do as they please (even when it's wrong) is just absurd. Sure, nobody should yell or quarrel with a customer. However, if a customer endangers other people then the customer is no longer right. Yet, some people tend to still follow the foolish saying trying to make themselves look good. A lessor may foolishly allow freeloading tenants to violate payment agreements so they will look like philanthropists. A store owner may even allow credit from bad customers to accumulate so they will look like philanthropists. Sure, profits aren't everything but without profits, a business can never survive for long. No profits mean acts of philanthropy can't be continuous. It's because you can't give anything if you don't have anything to give.
Toxic relationships are not helpful. It's true challenges help but there are times you need to know when that difficulty isn't helping. Difficult times help develop character. However, there's no real learning if you insist on getting into unnecessary difficulty. It's one thing to learn how to clean the place. It's stupidity if you insist on cleaning the stairs with a toothbrush when you can use the mop. It's stupid not to replace faulty cleaning equipment when you need to. It's one thing to get involved in a difficult task. It's another thing to make things more difficult than they ought to be. It's difficult to learn to develop good study habits. It's another thing to study in a place where all the study hazards are in one place. It's difficult to cook delicious food. It's absurd if you try to cook delicious food with faulty equipment. It's difficult to do laundry. It's another thing to do your laundry with just a few drops of water. It's pretty much learning when you're willing to do something difficult vs. making things overly difficult.
For me, the best thing to do is to cut off a toxic relationship. Why feel sentimental when your close friend is a user? Why feel sentimental if your close friend is not helping you pay the rent when you two have a business? Why feel sentimental if the tenant isn't paying up and you don't have money to do repairs? Toxic relationships aren't only bad for profits. More importantly, keeping a toxic business relationship proves you're not trustworthy hence killing any future profits. That's why it's wrong to dump toxic waste into clean water. It's likewise wrong to allow toxic people to dump their toxicity into a business.
