In the initial days of the setting up of business, I had to travel frequently to various cities across India and stay over for a few days. Every time I would ring up a friend of mine and would ask if I could crash at his/her place.

I got the same response from each one of them- You don’t have to ask Ayush, you are welcome anytime. When the basic establishment of business was in process, for various things like Getting the trademark registered, for any legal agreement, logo design, photography, licensing, review and tasting up of products, or some advice that I may need during the process it was always a phone call or text away.

It was not just because I had a good network or connection base, but mainly because I had a good relation with them. Not just for business, we have had conversations about our personal life, ongoing career crises and if nothing else just a few text exchange to know how they were doing.

Since my childhood, my dad had always taught me to respect individuals, their opinion and go out of my way to help anyone who was in need. He taught me to have meaningful conversations without having any selfish motives behind it. 

This has helped me develop a very strong bond with my friends, family member, colleagues, business partners and especially my clients. 

I share a very friendly relation with my clients which has helped me receive an honest opinion and feedback of my products, which ultimately results in improved service and stronger bond.

During all these happening around of business, with a close friend joining me as a co-founder, to us becoming directors, and with the initial team comprising of 15 of my closest friends. One thing I have had in my core values was to never let selfish motives or greed take over the relationship.

This has made me a better human, yes no doubt there have been ups and downs and I have lost few good friends along the way as well but most of them are still with me and I am sure I will share the same if a not stronger bond with them for the rest of my life.

If you ask why is this important or how is it relevant? So let me break it up for you:

IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING RELATIONS IN BUSINESS

1. FRIENDS BEFORE THIRD PARTY VENDOR

It’s not always what they bring on the table but at times it’s about giving a chance to your friends and family members to use your platform as a ground for experiencing and experimenting with their skill set.

No matter what, relation with friends will always be there. (Image Source: Small Business Trends)

Again keeping a check, setting expectations right and giving them the desired space is necessary.  If you don’t trust your close circle to do a job well, then how will they be confident and be groomed with their skills and service that they provide?

2. MAKES YOUR BOND STRONGER

It’s necessary for you to interact with your circle for both personal and professional level as it helps you explore new horizons of their understanding and their way of working which once you are comfortable and reach a mutual understanding makes your bond even more stronger.

3. TEACHES YOU TO BE CALM & COURTEOUS

When you value relations more, you tend to understand humans as individuals and therein give them deserved respect. If you have a strong bond with your third-party vendors, you will never disrespect them and understand their point of view as well which is very important because they are the masters of the job in hand.

Building relations in business will, somewhere down the line, help you be calm. (Image Source: The Cannabis Reporter)

When your vendors include your friends & family members, you tend to incline towards a more polite and respectful approach, which at times we forget while dealing with a third party again where having a bond helps.

4. OWNERSHIP OF THE TASK IN HAND

I guess it’s self-explanatory. No better person to understand the importance of the job/ task in hand than your core circle. They will care for your work and will know how much importance does the task in handholds for the business and for you as individuals. If you are able to embed the ownership in them, you will get honest feedback and creative genuine inputs for each task in progress.

5. RELATIONS MAKE WORK MORE FUN

If you have a good relation or bond with your clients and vendors (even third party) it will always be fun at work, the other person will also enjoy doing work because there is a personal touch involved. It’s no more merely a job in hand but something to look up to.

This is not just about getting the work done. It is also about the celebrations and happy moments that you would share with them once the tasks at hand and the goals set are achieved.

Success is of no use if it’s limited to you. If the people who helped you or contributed to making your goal a success are still standing with you in the celebrations, that is when you will know that you treated your people right. As cliché as it sounds, It’s not about what they say in front of you but it’s about what they say and feels about you when you are not in the room. If you have meaningful relations, you have a healthy environment to work in. You get people who will support you, teach you right and people who will stand by you through thick and thin.

The money will help you get the work done professionally and well-crafted but money with a good bond combined with respect and value for relations will help you achieve the professionalism with a homely feeling and will make work more fun. 

When it comes to getting to know your customers, vendors, suppliers, clients, business associates and staff, if you have the right bonding and desirable behaviour they will be very comfortable sharing the truth from time to time which is again a very important aspect in long term growth and feasibility. A bond shared will give you satisfaction and a feeling of accomplishment. Because at times we tend to be overshadowed by our plan and mindset ignoring the where-about of the industry or people in general which has been a major setback factor in the downfall of major corporates and established businesses as well.

All in all, when you are true to yourself and others and you genuinely care about the people you interact with, You have to ensure that you have a strong bond and you understand their demands and viewpoint rightly. Even if you don’t understand, at least you should have the rapport with which they are comfortable sharing the right expectations. 

With hundreds and thousands of such incidences where my this principle has helped me in my personal and professional life, I can surely advise you to value people more than your materialistic goals as goals will change from time to time but you should have your people around to stand with you while you all achieve the next milestone together and it is important that the same people are present to enjoy the celebrations when the sunsets.

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