Givers & Takers

They seem to be surrounding me at the moment- Takers. What an ugly thing to have in your life, especially at Christmastime.


The first Taker has been building for a few months. I was emailed by a company about advertising, I booked them in, invoiced them & went to print. Therein lies my first mistake. How naive have I been to trust in strangers, just because they are in business?


Of course, as you might have guessed by the title of the blog- they didn't pay & I've had no joy in contacting them. The address they gave is a serviced office, the emails are not responded to, the phone goes straight to answer machine. As I dug deeper, it turns out he had used other business names & has left a trail of local companies unpaid in his wake. He owes thousands of pounds to hundreds of gullibles like me.


Well, this Taker has a fight on his hands. I'm not taking it lying down. I've got a bit of clout in my own little World. I have a network, a web of contacts, I'm building a list of people he has used, I'm spreading the word with the power of social networking, I've contacted Ripped Off Britain, Rogue Traders, Trading Standards, the local paper, plus a debt recovery agency. I'm fired up!! How dare you take from me & not give me the money I earned!

The second situation is a Taker I have known of for a while, on a smaller but more personal scale, someone who has taken business ideas, advice, support from friends of mine & set up their own rival business - 3 times! Mostly half heartedly & without the love, care, dedication & hard work that my friends put in to their businesses. This person's latest mindless misuse of decent people has let down a local pre-school. It is upsetting to see how much damage a person with so little care in their lives can do. In this instance the Taker may not have taken money, but they have taken what was given to them freely & used (and abused) it poorly. What a waste.


Both experiences have taught me some tough lessons. I will get tough, but they won't toughen me. Yes I will tighten up my credit control & take up front payments from new companies, yes I will speak out sooner when I see someone who could cause damage to someone else's trusting nature, but I will never be less trusting, less caring or less passionate. I get great joy from giving- time, advice, support, encouragement. Something the takers will never have. That's what sets apart the Givers from the Takers- we will always GET MORE.