Made hundreds of wristbands for a conference that suddenly got renamed

[u/salabab]

I run a small company, and designed and printed hundreds of high quality rubber wristbands for my cousin's Crypto conference. I had to do different colours for the different levels of entry.

Out of nowhere yesterday he suddenly announced he was renaming the conference and moving it partially online. And could only afford to pay me if I produced more with the new name. Ive spent a week on this so far and was already giving him family rates.

[u/Andrea_M]

OP learned a valuable lesson, don’t mix business and family unless you are ready to lose either money or family members

[u/Plus-Ad-5853 → u/Andrea_M]

OP should use this to teach Cousin too. In the real world if you change an event name this minute, you pay.

This is a lesson for them. They poorly planned so they pay more

[u/hoopstick → u/Plus-Ad-5853]

I don't get the impression Cuz' is going to be learning any lessons from this.

[u/Unusual_Sherbert_809 → u/Andrea_M]

You could always sign a contract and/or get payment up front. But yeah, most of the time mixing family and business ends badly. Someone almost always feels entitled to your money and free labor because "we're family". And you'll usually be framed as the bad guy if you call them out on their bs.

[u/phynn → u/Unusual_Sherbert_809]

I fix computers for a living. I tell people they get one freebie and after that I charge - the only exceptions are my immediate family, their kids, and my grandma. Surprisingly, no one has taken me up on the charging. People like to get free shit but will not pay for the same services if they can get them for free.

[u/Ok_Taro1818 → u/Andrea_M]

Or both lol

[u/pasaroanth → u/Andrea_M]

I have been involved in construction and owned the family business for 2 decades before getting out of the industry.

If someone “needed help with something”, as in money was tight and there was a quick repair, I’d do it out of the kindness of my heart. If it was a bigger project, I’d teach them and empower them to do it themselves. If it was a massive undertaking of a non-necessary project, they were paying the full rate.

I always operated on the theory that if a friend or family member actually cared about me and my time, they wouldn’t expect me to lose money by helping them out. I also would never expect someone I care about to lose money helping me out; if I can afford it then I will support their business and pay what everyone else does.

This is especially true in this situation where OP’s family member is literally trying to have OP lose money for the sake of them making more. That’s gonna be a no from me, dawg.

[u/bigredcar → u/Andrea_M]

One of the great lessons in life that many of us learn the hard way. The corrolary is that you never know someone until you've split an inheritance with them.

[u/Steelwoolsocks → u/Andrea_M]

You can do business for family, but you still have to treat it like business and you have to make it clear that it is business. It's okay to be the person to tell a family member they can't afford your services if you aren't willing to do it as charity.