So I hired a keen 17 year old many moons ago, and invested years of training time, pre paid educational courses etc., into her. She turned into a rel gem..talented, poised , and professional. ( or so I thought)
Coles notes version for those who don't remember all the drama from a year ago....
She ended up marrying my brother, and I had high hopes of selling her my business...she said that's all she wanted all her life etc.......keep it in the family and all that. However, 15 years after all the this and that, when it came time to sign the papers, she opted to steal merch from me, start her own business out of her house offering her services to my customers, putting up a website with Mill Street photos etc., and I ended up having no choice but to fire her.
Obviously it has been an awkward situation. Heartbreaking, actually, but let's leave emotion out of it for now.
Haven't seen my brother, or my nephews since.
For the most part, her efforts have not resulted in a difference from a business point of view.
However, over the last couple of months, she has made an all out effort to break into my trading area, and has broken into my local market by having her business cards and brochures displayed in 2 local businesses within 1 block of my shop.
Now, fair is fair, and I must give her credit for her efforts, and her successes.
But what bugs me most about this is that I am in a Business Improvement Area, (which, for those of you are not familiar with the governance, is a designated physical area, that by democratic vote, is a collection of businesses who agree to augment their annual business taxes by an agreed percentage of property tax, from which all funds collected go to further the beautification, and marketing efforts of only those assciated businesses within the geographic boundry).
I am quite active in my BIA, and, on top of the mandated few thousand extra dollars per year I pay to be a member, I also donate about a thousand hours a year of my time, plus a couple more thousand dollars a year in related marketing efforts and dollars, to introduce our area to customers beyond our little village, through advertising in various publications, and hosting various events meant to encourage new visitors to our area.
(And, by the way, it works really great, for the most part)
Now, my question.
What would you do about those fellow members who are devoting their space to advertise a business outside the BIA area who do not chip in to pay, who are in direct competition with those of us who do pay and contribute?
I feel a bit betrayed...after all, if someone asks what restaurant to eat at, I reccomend 2 or 3 within our area.
If someone askes about a dress shop, I reccommend a few within my BIA area.
Same with car dealerships, insurers, gift shop, grocers, etc.
And I am not lying when I give my reccomendations, we have everything here that one would need, and they are all staffed by the owners and their staff, and we are all working hard to be the best we can be to serve our community, and charge the same as, if not less than, our big city competitors, while giving much better, "small town" service.
This past employee ( and sister-in-law) lives 35 minutes from our village, works out of her basement ( and therefore submits no provincial, federal, payroll or business taxes), but is a personal friend of the children who own the businesses in question.
So, do I rock the boat even more, based on principle? Or do I let it go?
Do I remind the business owners that, as a matter of principle, the marketing of a competitor based outside of our BIA trading area is untoward, and really shouldn't be done?
And, because that is what I really want to do, then how do I do that without coming across like a whining @@@@@?
I really feel that I am correct in my wishes to stop the promotion of someone outside of my area, but because she is my sister in law, and used to work for me, and I fired her, and then things went south after that, I want to be careful not to be seen as the meany older sister-in law competitor. That certainly won't help anything, for her, for me, or for either of our busineses.
Truth is, I think she has a great carreer ahead of her in her own area, which is not currently served by a florist, and I have offered my help to set her up in that demographic, but I think she is too frightened to grasp the ring and make a go of it, so she has instead opted to go after my clients located 30-60 miles away.
WOW, this turned out to be an essay question!
Anyway, any and all advise greatfully recieved, reviewed, and considered.
This is definately one of those times when many minds will make my desicion easier to come to, because right now, I am confused.
Thanks for all your differing opinions,
JP
Coles notes version for those who don't remember all the drama from a year ago....
She ended up marrying my brother, and I had high hopes of selling her my business...she said that's all she wanted all her life etc.......keep it in the family and all that. However, 15 years after all the this and that, when it came time to sign the papers, she opted to steal merch from me, start her own business out of her house offering her services to my customers, putting up a website with Mill Street photos etc., and I ended up having no choice but to fire her.
Obviously it has been an awkward situation. Heartbreaking, actually, but let's leave emotion out of it for now.
Haven't seen my brother, or my nephews since.
For the most part, her efforts have not resulted in a difference from a business point of view.
However, over the last couple of months, she has made an all out effort to break into my trading area, and has broken into my local market by having her business cards and brochures displayed in 2 local businesses within 1 block of my shop.
Now, fair is fair, and I must give her credit for her efforts, and her successes.
But what bugs me most about this is that I am in a Business Improvement Area, (which, for those of you are not familiar with the governance, is a designated physical area, that by democratic vote, is a collection of businesses who agree to augment their annual business taxes by an agreed percentage of property tax, from which all funds collected go to further the beautification, and marketing efforts of only those assciated businesses within the geographic boundry).
I am quite active in my BIA, and, on top of the mandated few thousand extra dollars per year I pay to be a member, I also donate about a thousand hours a year of my time, plus a couple more thousand dollars a year in related marketing efforts and dollars, to introduce our area to customers beyond our little village, through advertising in various publications, and hosting various events meant to encourage new visitors to our area.
(And, by the way, it works really great, for the most part)
Now, my question.
What would you do about those fellow members who are devoting their space to advertise a business outside the BIA area who do not chip in to pay, who are in direct competition with those of us who do pay and contribute?
I feel a bit betrayed...after all, if someone asks what restaurant to eat at, I reccomend 2 or 3 within our area.
If someone askes about a dress shop, I reccommend a few within my BIA area.
Same with car dealerships, insurers, gift shop, grocers, etc.
And I am not lying when I give my reccomendations, we have everything here that one would need, and they are all staffed by the owners and their staff, and we are all working hard to be the best we can be to serve our community, and charge the same as, if not less than, our big city competitors, while giving much better, "small town" service.
This past employee ( and sister-in-law) lives 35 minutes from our village, works out of her basement ( and therefore submits no provincial, federal, payroll or business taxes), but is a personal friend of the children who own the businesses in question.
So, do I rock the boat even more, based on principle? Or do I let it go?
Do I remind the business owners that, as a matter of principle, the marketing of a competitor based outside of our BIA trading area is untoward, and really shouldn't be done?
And, because that is what I really want to do, then how do I do that without coming across like a whining @@@@@?
I really feel that I am correct in my wishes to stop the promotion of someone outside of my area, but because she is my sister in law, and used to work for me, and I fired her, and then things went south after that, I want to be careful not to be seen as the meany older sister-in law competitor. That certainly won't help anything, for her, for me, or for either of our busineses.
Truth is, I think she has a great carreer ahead of her in her own area, which is not currently served by a florist, and I have offered my help to set her up in that demographic, but I think she is too frightened to grasp the ring and make a go of it, so she has instead opted to go after my clients located 30-60 miles away.
WOW, this turned out to be an essay question!
Anyway, any and all advise greatfully recieved, reviewed, and considered.
This is definately one of those times when many minds will make my desicion easier to come to, because right now, I am confused.
Thanks for all your differing opinions,
JP
). Thankfully, whenever I'm about to (or have just recently) put my foot in it, Cathy has an amazingly elegant and efficient way of speaking to the issue at hand.
