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.
Jennifer Coombes
One of the hardest things to do in the photography industry today is to keep up with the changes to social media marketing. The best thing that friends and family can do to support a friend in business is to share their social media posts to their own friends – with Facebook it’s just sharing the post itself; with Instagram, the order of most helpful to least is: Save the post, Comment on the post, Like the post. With things constantly changing and evolving in the social media world. Read more>>
Aiyesha Minott
Asking for friends and family to support your business can be risky. Be prepared to have your emotions ready. This is because often times, and too many times, family and friends do not always readily see the vision that you have for your business, which can cause a lackluster approach on their end to supporting you. First, you have to understand that if they have never owned a business, they honestly and legitimately may not know how to support you or in what ways you need it. Read more>>
Erin Rivers
This subject plagued my existence when I first took the plunge into full time entrepreneurship in 2019. I was operating under the misnomer that your friends and family would be your biggest supporters simply because it’s YOU. I was incorrect. Over the years I’ve built my dream on the support from complete strangers. They rallied behind my dream and placed orders, booked catered events and through word of mouth helped cultivate this dream. As time has passed friends and family have joined in. But I’ll never forget the way it’s been the people I’ve never met that have watered the seeds I’ve planted from the very beginning. Read more>>
Angela Melfi
By the nature of our business we train new Threads Socialpreneurs to START with their friends and family. We connect women through the fair trade of artisan jewelry putting income and resources into the hands of impact-driven women and we start by connecting our own communities.. our friends.. our family.. Women are nervous about this and I understand. We don’t want to sound salesy, ‘mix business with friendship’, or impose. Read more>>
Brandon Mair
Getting into the Real Estate Business was something that i thought i would be pretty successful at since i know a lot of people. This is the one industry that almost every person you come into contact with is a potential client. You dont see that with other professionals. It’s also a profession where referrals go a long way. It is funny this is the biggest purchase some people will ever make, but there are no real training or anything taught in traditional school about buying a home. Read more>>
Andrea Thompson
This is a slippery slope, because you don’t want to impose your business on your loved ones. They may not be in your target market. Support can be in many forms, it doesn’t always have to be in the form of a sale. A share/ repost to spread brand awareness can be just as valuable as a sale. You never know who on their friend list will see the post and be interested. I have been lucky on my journey because my family really loves me and wants to see me succeed, so they have supported me through all my entrepreneurial ventures. Read more>>
Johni Luellen
Family and friends are always expected to be your support system, but I had to learn thats not always the case. I have learned that friends or family want to appear supportive but also dont expect to pay full price at times. Its ok to provide samples when you are starting out as I done in the behinning but at some point you are wanting their financial and emotional support. I have learned to accept it and have gotten 80% of my support from strangers through networking . That was one of the best decisions I ever made. I strive to host more diy events and networking pop up shops with more industry related guests and speakers to help inform those that may want to statt their own business one day. Read more>>
Michael Pirolo
We opened Macchialina to in 2012 because the city was screaming for a restaurant that catered to locals and we created a real sense of community around that. Its funny, my wife/partner in the restaurant would be locking up the restaurant in the first few years and we would look at each other and say “wow, thank god we have friends or we would not have had any guests tonight”. if it wasn’t for our friends and peers in the restaurant industry in Miami we would not be standing today about to celebrate 10 years. I go out of my way to support my friends businesses and pay that kindness that was shown to us forward. Read more>>
matthew kuscher
Friends and family are there to support the business, not to take away from it. So a general rule is if my friends and family want me to succeed, they pay full price. And if someone asks for a friends and family discount, we add 10% to their bill since they should be the ones supporting you the most. Read more>>
Mayra Salinas
This is something that I’m working through now! As I’m building and scaling my business and feeling more comfortable sharing this process with my friends, family, and followers, I am realizing that these people are my biggest supporters and always have been. They want to help. And while I can often feel embarrassed/guilty asking for help in general, I know that my support system genuinely wants to see me succeed and have asked me HOW they can help. I’m learning how to find courage in asking for help, whether that’s financial help or not because in reality, we all need a little help. Read more>>
Tawny Laney
Asking friends and family to support your business is always a hard situation if you aren’t looking at it from the right perspective. Whether it is a MLM, brick & mortar business, or a service you provide, it can be uncomfortable for some people to ask for support. However, asking for support doesn’t just come in the form of your friends and family spending money with your business. I genuinely believe it comes from building those relationships. Read more>>
Lillian Iacino
From my experience I have found if you have solid people around you and in your circle you will never have to ask for support, it just comes naturally because they care about you. I couldn’t ask for better friends and family to be surrounded by. They have consistently supported me since I opened my business four years ago. Even if they do not come in for a service, they will share my posts on social media, buy products from our online retail shop and always send me referrals. Read more>>