[Relaxation Column] How to avoid being taken advantage of by 'free lunches' in business. On the 'boundaries' you need to draw

Since we have been covering heavy topics like infrastructure and macroeconomics every day, this time I will share something a bit more relaxed.

The theme is about “boundaries” in business.

When building businesses or negotiating with overseas clients, you encounter a wide variety of people. Among them, the ones you must be most wary of when trying to move business forward are those who try to get a “Free Lunch.”

A tenant who says, 'Rebuild the department store's structure'

Just today, an unbelievable request came in from an overseas client. Regarding a web media outlet with one of the highest traffic volumes in Japan, which I am producing for an acquaintance, they said, “We want our company (product) to stand out more, so rebuild the system (template) that is the foundation of the media itself.”

Changing a media template is a “major construction project” that has a massive impact on the entire site design built over many years, the SEO evaluation of other articles, and the entire internal link structure.

To use an analogy, this is as unreasonable and arrogant as “a single tenant in a department store demanding that the department store’s blueprints be redrawn for their own personal convenience of making their shop stand out.”

They are not necessarily bad people. Because they can only see their own KPIs, such as “wanting to increase their company’s sales,” they end up, without malice, trying to “use someone else’s platform or assets for free for their own company (eat a free lunch).”

“Nice people” get exploited, and businesses collapse

In the face of such unreasonable demands from people who have lost sight of their own position, there are those who try to accommodate them by sacrificing their own time and assets, thinking, “They are a client after all…” or “I don’t want to sour the relationship…”

However, as harsh as it may sound, giving in to that is not being a “nice person,” but being a “third-rate” businessman. (Or so I believe.)

If you allow someone to have a “free lunch” even once, they will perceive you as “a subcontractor who can be used conveniently for free,” and their demands will escalate further. As a result, the value of your own platform will be damaged, and you will end up causing trouble for the users you really need to protect and for other decent clients.

How to say “No” like a professional

So, what should you do? There is no need to get emotional and angry. As a professional, you must coldly and logically draw a firm boundary that says, “Beyond this point is not your territory.”

To the client mentioned earlier, I conveyed this without any compromise.

“The people we are connected to are in a position of renting media space; you do not own the media. There is no owner in this world who changes infrastructure for the convenience of a single company.”

Furthermore, instead of just rejecting them, I forcibly steered the conversation back to a proposal for an essential business structure (scheme), saying, “Rather than spending money and time on such superficial layout changes, let’s create a ‘commission rebate scheme’ that is overwhelmingly advantageous for the users. If we do that, the media will naturally start featuring your product at the top without us even being asked.”

True “Win-Win” is born from structure

In business, there is no future in a “relationship where one tries to take something for free.” Responding to a partner’s unreasonable demands by selling your own value and assets cheaply is never “Win-Win.”

True Win-Win is building a solid and rational “profit structure (scheme)” where both parties feel they “want to provide value to the other even if it means paying out of pocket” (of course, this can also stem from mutual trust).

Are there any 'takers' around you who try to get a 'free meal' without even meaning any harm? If you can think of anyone, try redrawing your 'cold, professional boundaries' right now.

Just by doing that, the atmosphere of your business should improve dramatically, and you will be able to focus on the 'real work' that you should truly be investing your time in.

Have a great day.

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