Biz Rules Volume 1

2004-02-20 8:08 a.m.

Things have been nuts trying to squeeze everything in before I break out for SF and Chicago. It figures that once again when I try to break out for a bit everyone suddenly decides that they need me RIGHT NOW. So I've been putting the proverbial hand in many faces for the past week telling them to hit me back in 2 weeks.

Not that I'm in any position to turn down good work (I'm finally in a position to turn down bad work), but I can and do tell these cats that if they want me they need to wait. Where the fuck were these people when I was losing my mind 18 months ago?

So lately friends and local observers have asked how I did it. How the hell did I go from shit to commodity? It basically comes down to a couple rules I've given myself which seem to have worked so far...

Only work with people I'd look forward to have a drink with.

I'm pretty open on a whole, and if you've known me for more than 10 minutes, I've probably offered to buy you a drink. It's not the alky in me (well maybe a little). It's all about intelligence, honesty and the ability to communicate. Believe it or not, an hour at a bar can show all of these things, whether you're a drinker or not. It's based on the same principles women base who's-coming-home-with-them-tonight on.

Business and friendship ARE different, (which is why we have contracts) but do NOT work with or trust anyone who counts on and lives by this fact.

Now I've done street business and legit business and everything in between. The biggest dicks in any of the above are the ones who credit the game and live by that fact. ALWAYS HATE THE PLAYER... They MADE the GAME. Don't buy that wanna-be-pimp excuse from anyone whether they have 50 bags or 50 mil in investments. There is NO good excuse to fuck somebody over, if there is you shouldn't be doing business with them, and I'm not doing business with you.

No DEALS

The only exception to this rule is when you get something worthwhile in return. At that point it's not a deal, just a trade in service, i.e. the way it was before we had money.

It's not a greed rule by any means. What this does is weed out the bad clients. a bad client is someone who works you down to half or less your normal charge and then asks for 20 times more than your biggest clients. They never pay on time. They always want more and they never know exactly what it is they actually want. They don't want to pay for your time that they waste. On a whole they don't want to pay anything at all. They will offer to pay you when everything is done, but they're so indecisive and full of shit, it will NEVER be DONE.

Honesty

This is more of a life rule for me. Honesty will always win. If I can't do a job, I'll tell a client. generally they come back to me later. If it's going to take me 10 hours, I tell them 10 - 14 hours and I mean it. Most of my clients trust me after one conversation which makes business in general far easier than I expected it to be.

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A lot of these things stem from my own life rules. Treat everyone the same - man, woman, black, brown, white, old, young, etc. Don't disrespect anyone, even the disrespectful. Be honest and up front. etc. etc.

Well, it's all worked so far. I guess we'll know better after a couple years of steady work. Hopefully by then I'll have hired some people, made some investments, and have real estate in every dope city on the planet. Gets a little closer every day.

On a side note, my friend L. has decided to start up one of these things. We've promised each other not to look for the other's journal. I mean, i keep things honest - here and in person, but she may be uncomfortable to hear about occasional meaningless attractions to her over 6 am drunken breakfasts and stuff like that. And I'm sure she's got a lot of shit I don't need to hear too. No real reason to say so, besides just being happy for her. I remember how stupid I felt when I first started this thing. Still feel stupid, but at least the quantity makes up for the quality.

OH!! And take-two, I appreciate the incredibly sweet words. Just to let you know, I don't live in Boston !!