People don't appreciate small businesses and treat them like shit

[toepick]

I'm a small business

I have to smile and be nice to customers of course but most of them are cunts

People just take, take, take
Don't appreciate the effort that goes into a good small business and will think nothing of not paying when they should

I'm a professional dressmaker and you are absolutely correct re costs. When I trained at fashion college in the late 80s, a blouse from Next could cost £35. It STILL costs £35. Why? How?

Because manufacturing has moved from the UK to Asia, primarily, where wages and working conditions are often abysmal and disasters like Rana Plaza happen. Cheap clothes are paid for by somebody.

I give a guideline price at first contact, because it stops me wasting my time, and theirs, on an appointment if my services are out of their budget.

I don't blame my clients, I don't expect them to know how much work is involved if they don't sew themselves. So I'm upfront about the potential cost.

Oh, and even some of my friends don't want to pay me a fair price. One walked around for 2 months in trousers that she'd shortened with staples. She finally asked me to do it properly when they rusted in the wash.

Not sure customer service is your thing. If you feel that way about your clients, it will show.

My sister produces large canvas seascape paintings. It has taken her a while to get noticed and build up a reputation to the point where she takes on commissions and/or sells work via local galleries and online. It is still a small scale business making a modest income that she wraps around other work. Each painting can take a number of weeks to produce yet people still get pissy with her when they expect a one off original for peanuts. Or ask her to send high resolution images of her work for 'review' before purchasing. Or ask her to remove the watermarks on her online images so they can basically steal her work. She does sell postcards and larger prints as well but a sizable number of people don't want to pay a few quid for that, they either want 'samples' for free or original work for £20. Apparently it is just a hobby so she should be grateful for the interest she is getting.

I think you just need decent boundaries. It probably helps that my business is mostly B2B- often to other small businesses- and 90% of my customers are lovely (especially women, who seem to make up the majority of my customers- interesting, since it's at least theoretically a gender neutral thing). I rarely have any problem with people paying up (and I don't ask for a deposit, and deliver the goods before payment). And for the other 10%, a polite reference to how it would be in no one's interests to have to resort to the small claims court usually results in instant payment! Only once have I had to send the small claims court form letter out to someone, at which point he paid up.

The only thing that is a bit annoying is that sometimes I will produce a sketch for someone- which obviously takes time- and then they will disappear. I acknowledge that that is my fault for being a bit slack and trusting, though- my American colleagues online are super tight and super professional with this- signed contracts and deposits before pencil is put to paper, all designs charged for- I just can't be bothered, and sometimes pay the penalty for this

Oh, just wanted to add- it's usually the big companies that are the slowest payers. "Finance says you've missed this month's payment run, so it'll be another month". Yeah, cheers for that 🙄

I’d like to use small businesses and do try to. I ordered something from a small business a week ago and the order was acknowledged and confirmed. Since then, I’ve not heard anything. I have no idea whether it will arrive in time.

Quite a generalisation, isn't it.

Having a small business is hard (I have one and get it) but I was well aware it would be going in and am not owed a living, and certainly don't make one either. Some customers are going to be bad ones in the same way that some people are. I can't say I've ever found either customers or people to be unpleasant in anything other than an infrequent minority.

I couldn't imagine doing it feeling that way about the people that buy from you though and being falsely nice to them through gritted teeth to get a small sale etc. Doesn't sound overly good for you frankly.

People in customer service jobs are always on MN moaning about arrogant, aggressive, demanding customers/patients etc. Yet when a self employed person says the same, MN turns on them to say it's their fault!!! Just saying!

I use small businesses whenever they have what I need. I recently bought a rug from a small business and the size I wanted was out of stock. I emailed late one evening to find out when it would be back in and got a reply almost instantly. So 'small', in that case, was run from someone's sitting room, I suspect. But really outstanding customer service and a gorgeous rug.

Broadly, I agree op (been in business myself for many years).

Usually it’s people who don’t have the gumption / balls / whatever it takes to do it themselves that are the biggest piss takers. There. I’ve said it.

@dontgobaconmyheart if you haven’t had a day when you just want to shout “fuck it!”, dreamt about a job stacking shelves or needing to vent about unreasonable customers, then you’re a better woman than me!