What’s your view on asking friends and family to support your brand? We asked members of the community to open up and share their views on this controversial topic. Check out some highlights below.

Haley Ponder

When asking family and friends to support my business, especially when you are first starting it can feel like you were an annoyance. I started a Facebook page. Intentionally to hit a target audience of the adult crowd therefore, adding my mom‘s friends as well as family members. posting on your stories and feed every day multiple times a day is the part that can make you feel like an annoyance. I hosted an event in the beginning of 2024, called vendor blender and outside small business market type set up when doing an event promoting is the key component to success, but while posting it makes you wonder are people saving the information or just oh look here is that post again luckily it was a great event and I hope to plan in the future but that is always in the back of your mind but also just one thing to prosper through in business. Read more>>

Renata Sams

Friends and family play a crucial role in supporting my business. While I know referrals come from various sources, having my circle aware of my services as a Realtor, Travel Advisor, and Notary significantly increases my reach. My goal is to avoid being a “secret agent” by openly promoting my business in various ways so that those close to me see me as a trusted resource. A memorable example was when a family member introduced me to my first group client, which led to an unforgettable birthday trip to Jamaica for her and her friends. This experience filled me with pride and resulted in new connections, completed transactions, referrals, and more clients, all from that one act of support. Read more>>

Carla Grisel (cece)

Genuine support isn’t something that’s asked for, it’s naturally given. I’ve realized since first becoming an entrepreneur, that 50% of the support you receive is from the ones you come across on your journey —— the people who are on a similar wave length as you are, these are the ones who understand the work you’re putting in because they see themselves in you, whether or not it’s in a different shape or form. The other 25% comes from your friends and family who aren’t apart of the journey but are apart of you. These are the people that mainly support what you’re doing, simply because it’s you. The last 25% comes from complete strangers —- these are the ones who see the small results, which are the most important when you’re on the come up. Whether it’s a success post on your instagram, your work being presented in a cool place, or just constantly hearing your name. In all reality, I’ve never had an unsupportive circle —- or maybe I just ignore those, idk. Read more>>

Jason Ramin

Asking for help was never really a controversial topic for us. Both Matt and I have been lucky to be surrounded by a community that is constantly looking out for each other. So much of our success is due to help provided by friends, family, and even complete strangers. We will always be incredibly grateful for everyone who has helped us along the way and have vowed to “pay it forward” as much as possible by helping any other aspiring entrepreneurs in our circles whenever there is a need. One episode in particular comes to mind, when we were starting to grow out of our initial warehouse (my home garage). This was during the period that my cofounder Matt and I would write a hand-written note on ever single box that we packed and shipped out. As we started to grow, this became more and more difficult to do.  Read more>>