Buying a used car? Forget friendship. Do your due diligence

In September 2020, I bought a used car from my trusted mechanic.  I didn't even think about its reliability because of the bond I had with him.

But that was a mistake.

From DAY ONE, I had problems.  I took it back to him twice and then took it elsewhere.  The money output kept going up, Up, UP!

Finally, I decided to take it to the manufacturer.  En route there on the highway, the car began to smoke --heavily.  Cars were honking and frantically alerting me to the danger.

I pulled over and it died.  After waiting nearly two hours for AAA to tow it, I got to the dealer.

The car was dead!  The mechanics had a laundry list of problems with the car. They had pulled up a history on the car and it had been involved in major accidents -- none of which was revealed.To fix it was a down payment on a new car.  

And that's what I did.  Bought a new car.  They gave me a great deal and even included a write-off for the dead car.

I learned an expensive lesson.

Do your due diligence. Forget relationships.  Go with your gut.

Say No if none of its adds up and if you don't feel right.

An expensive lesson but a valuable lesson too.

The "problem" with connecting

 While I enjoy acquiring new friends of the various social media platforms, this can become a problem when someone is trying to solicit you for a ticket,  pitch you to get your insurance from their company and asking you to become one of their clients for _________. You fill in the blank.

I 'get' that it's important to establish connections and promote your enterprise.  But, let's establish a connection without the pitch so I don't feel pitched to.

I am in business and have always waited a decent amount of time before hitting someone up for something I want.  I establish trust and a real relationship.  I invite them to something.

So when connecting -- REALLY CONNECT at the start!

Don't start promoting YOU before embracing your prospect.

Now that's truly connecting!