There's a difference between wheeling and dealing and just straight up trying to get something for nothing. Lots of people walk into a big box store to get that LG 50" TV that was on sale for $499. You get there and all that's left is the display model. Hey why not try to make a deal and get it for half off. Realistic right?
Your friend has a business, oh lets just say a recording studio. I mean Jay Z isn't recording there but lots of people do business there. Its pretty popular. You know exactly how much it is an hour to record and you know what the approximate cost is of a beat. You make an appointment, record for a few hours, shoot the shit, have a few drinks, record a little more and you decide to buy a beat.
Its time to pay and you know that you only brought enough for the hours that you booked. You talk and crack jokes while you put your coat on and you say "what do I owe you".
Now lets pause right here. This is where one of two things are going to happen. Either you're gonna pay or you're gonna say "yo man I aint even know we went that long. I only brought enough for what I booked. I got you on the next go round." And we all know there will be no next go round because that balance is going to be hanging there until you pay what you owe. And you know that you came in with the intention of not paying.
I make these two comparisons because I dont understand why it is so easy for you to walk into Best Buy and pay for what you want but its so hard to support the struggling business by paying for what you want. Is it because you think that local business owes you something for even walking into their store in the first place? I'll say this. There's a local business (a restaurant) where I know the owner, a family friend. I didn't expect a hook up. I didn't expect more steak in my sub. But I got better quality and service just for walking in the door and having a conversation. Many of US and when in say US, I mean black folks, tend to believe that we can walk into any black owned business and get something for nothing and how fair is that?? We wouldn't dare walk into a big box store and say " yo lemme get that TV at 75% off". Why????? But you wanna rob the person thats at least trying to give back.
I took the liberty of polling a few local business owners to see what their take on the hookup is. Some say hell no... been there done that. Some say that it depends. Others say why not. But the best answer that I think I got is that "at the end of the day business is all about value and revenue to support your business and keepin it on going business, not just a business that will plateau." I totally respect that. How can you continue to hook somebody up if you're trying to build?
And if you decide to hook up, what are you getting in return? Does that person just need a hook up until Friday? That's one of those "it depends" situations. But can you do that with everyone? Of course not! But what is the return? This isn't like a pay it forward type thing. That person is not going to go to Tim Horton's and pay for someone's coffee. They're gonna take the money that they just saved from not paying you to go to Foot Locker and pay full price for the new KDs.
Now here's a good one. What about the people that take it upon themselves and just take a discount? What I mean is you say to your barber " hey im coming in for a haircut." You go in, sit in the chair, do your business. You get up and leave, forgetting to do one thing: PAY! Now this barber might be you buddy from high school or your family member. But you still need to pay! He may have given you a free haircut in the past but that doesn't mean that you should just take it whenever you want. How disrespectful is that?!
There's so many hookup situations that I dont think there's enough memory for me to even keep going. The bottom line is that we need to have more respect for the people that have taken the time to draw up business plans, get loans and take huge risks for people to come in and take advantage of them. Even if its just someone doing some under the table services, they're still taking the time to supply you with something that you want. And also if you need the hookup, why dont you just wait until you can actually afford it? Do you need your hair done right that second? Is there a deadline on when you need to record that song that you're only going to play for your friends anyway? And business owners, how many people actually pay you when they say they're going to pay you? Not many I'm sure.
Respect your business owners and service providers. Odds are you're already getting a deep discount. Asking for a hookup is cheap and ignorant which makes for a cheap and ignorant YOU.
