Relationships Form the Center of a Successful Business
Yesterday's post about husbands and wives running family businesses reminded me about the value of strong relationships when it comes to success in business. Strong businesses require strong relationships. Strong relationships require strong people. My husband and I maintain a strong relationship not only with each other, but also with other people. These relationships can be compared to two pieces of iron which, when rubbed together, serve to strengthen one another.
My prayer this week is that small business owners everywhere will understand that creating and maintaining strong relationships is necessary in order to create and maintain strong businesses. These relationships are not always easy.
If you want to sharpen iron, you don't rub it against a piece of wood or rubber. Instead, you rub it up against another piece of iron. The strength of the two metals rubbing against one another, each seeking to assert its own strength, is what keeps the tool sharp.
It's the same with relationships between people. Put a weak person with a strong person and both generally become weaker in the long run. Put two strong people together and look out! Something exciting and important is going to happen.
Types of Business Relationships
Internal relationships are those forged with business colleagues, vendors, customers, mastermind associates and others who work in and on the business with you.
External relationships are those you have with people who have nothing to do with the business. These people are every bit as important as relationships that are internal to the business. They give you the strength and fortitude to operate the business when the going gets tough. They are the relationships that last, whether the business does or not.
What About You?
Do you have people in your life who serve as the iron that sharpens you? Who are they? How do you sharpen each other? What are you most important relationships, both internal and external to your business?
"Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17
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