Client or a Friend

Starting a new Design business has proven to be anything but an easy task. The mindset transformation from employee to a business owner takes absolutely enormous amount of energy; emotional as well as physical. Sometimes it feels like walking in the dark, trying not to stumble and crash into things. You don’t really want to turn the light ON on your very young business yet, but you have to keep on moving in order to make it work. How do you get this “first client” who will start spreading the good word about you around?

We look for help, emotional support and feedback from our friends so much so that we are willing to make them our first “no charge” customers. We reach to them in hopes for encouragement as well as an opportunity to start doing what we know we can do best: design. We know they will “let us“and by helping them they will help us. But is this as easy as it sounds? Is there a line we must draw between being someone’s friend and the same becoming your client? Is there supposed to be a difference between the way we treat our friends and the way we are to tread our clients? What do we tell our friend that we can’t tell our clients and vice versa. Client or a friend?