Most business partners that enter into a business agreement are not necessarily friends. However there are some that will intermingle the idea that personal considerations are expected such as discounts, saved seats and other such favors which if not kept in check can become the statis quo. Unfortunately this is in many situations, not the case. and offense is taken on a business level when one partner either is not able to do so or considers the request against his or her integrity.
If you are faced with this situation from time to time or even just once, it is time to re-evaluate your partnership and what it stands for. And is this the type of person that you can trust your success and wealth to when the chips are down or will they backout and walk away when they do not get their way. The partner that will challenge you on having their "back" is usually the one who does not have yours. They will try to renig on financial obligations. They can not seem to seperate business from personal and their jugement becomes hampered.
Recently I ran into this situation and had to make a decision based on the integrity and character of the person that I was entering into a business agreement with. While she was attending a course that I was staffing she requested that I save a seat for her to allow her to come closer to start time. Although I knew it is not necessarily appropriate, I filled the request and left it at that. However on the second day, the same person asked if I had done such favor again in which I indicted that I had not. On day three, I left a text message to let her know that I was unable to fill the request and suggested that she come a little earlier. That suggestion was given because I had noticed patterns in the short time I had worked with her to be late, have little regard for others as well as not paying her bills and strategically getting others to pay first for her to reimburse later which alot of times does not happen. Keep in mind that there was no friendship established at this point either. Friendships are build on strong foundations to include trust and integrity.
That is when the crap hit the fan. Accusations of not having her back and a partner finds a way to cover even if it is against the company standard that you are representing and your integity. With the intentional insult on her part, I immediately removed the website from the internet that I built and submitted an invoice for the completed work. The website would then be uploaded upon payment. Because I believe that what you do anytime is what you do everytime I was concerned if I continued to attempt working on this project... what else would cause such inappropriate and uncalled for accusations.
Before entering into any business partnership or agreement with anyone, pay attention to their habits and patterns. Over time the best foot forward and hype will begin to diminish and the real person begins to emerge. This is when you determine the integrity of the person and validity of the proposal they want to enter into with you. Also, should you begin doing work with this potential partner make sure you have paid invoices before releasing any completed work. This insures that you are covering your own back first before commiting to future dealings in anyone proposing a partnership. In other words, make sure your ducks are in a row or they may wander off in an unexpect and unwanted direction.
