How do you deal with family and friends who wants discounts? I own a small cookie business. I make about $200-$300 per order for my work so these aren’t cheap cookies. I get family members and friends sometimes messaging me to do custom cookies for them for events for such a small (basically just covering my expenses without making me any money at all) amount or sometimes I feel they even expect it for free and it’s really awkward for me to tell them my actual pricing because I know they won’t spend the money. However, my time is valuable and making these orders is very time consuming - time I can be working on another order that’ll bring me a lot more money.
So, how do you deal and gently tell them “no” or “it’ll cost you XY amount” which would be pretty much the same as any other client? I have done a few free orders for close family and friends and a few really cheap ones but I’m done with this. I’m busting my ass for nothing.
I would recommend to do a standard 5-10% friends and family discount and let them know that this is the max you can do at the moment. I think that true friends should support your business even more and add a tip to the total amount instead of asking for a discount. But of course it depends on the price and financial situation. If that kind of conversation occurs where they ask why you not giving them the bigger discount just explain the situation that your time is valuable and you still need to earn from this.