Here are a few ways that asking for a deal can send your fave small business into a pit of rage, from a small business owner: 1) It’s insulting when you ask for a deal. Tbh, it is perceived that you don’t think the business’ service work is worth full price. WOOF. Although that’s hardly the intention, keep in mind that the service provider spent years, education and money perfecting their skill, that’s why they have the price that they do. They didn’t magically come up with a random price, there’s intention behind it! A discount quite literally discounts the legitimacy of their business. 2) We may be living in a (sort of) post pandemic world, but our bank account and mentality is still in the pandemic. the scavenger money mentality is still so so real. the pandemic f#@$ed over your favorite business’ money mentality. Production and income just stopped one day in March and that fear of happening again looms over our heads. Some businesses are still trying to keep up from the debt that they created when life came to a halt almost two years ago. 3) We have bills, too. unfortunately, bills don’t care about discounts... They need to be paid the full amount, regardless of what’s coming in. 4) OUR BUSINESS IS NOT A HOBBY, IT’S OUR LIVELIHOOD! That’s it. That’s the bullet point. 5) It’s not fair to full paying clients. Some clients understood the assignment and have not asked for a discount, or they did but we didn’t honor it and they still signed on as a client. They’re the real mvps and we can’t let them down by offering others discounts. 6) The discount you ask for needs to come from somewhere else. On average, it takes 3-5 years for a business to break even and more than that to profit. if we’re taking a discount from one of our services, that money needs to come from somewhere else to cover it. Large corporations that have been in business for several years can sustain that type of loss, your favorite small business cannot. And don’t use this “women supporting women” movement talk when you ask for a discount. You’re NOT supporting other women’s business.....You’re not supporting another woman’s business, you’re supporting YOUR wallet.