I learned years ago that there’s difference between vendors and partners.
Vendors sell hot dogs.
Partners do whatever it takes to make you successful.
Vendors have customers.
Partners have clients.
You give money to a vendor in return for a commodity.
Partners exchange time, attention, care, grace, support, knowledge, connections, and years of expertise while working for the success of all concerned.
Money is exchanged in a business partnership but it can’t buy the real value of the relationship. It’s a mutual gift, a two-way street, give and take, yin and yang.
There are people who either don’t know the difference between partners and vendors or who deliberately treat partners as vendors. I’ve never taken the time to figure out all the reasons why they do this.
I just learned to recognize when it’s happening and – most importantly – learned to not take it personally. Just label it as a mismatch between someone offering a partnership and someone looking for a vendor.
It’s interesting that I learned this from a client who was not only looking for partners, he was willing to share this gift to help us both be more successful.
If you’re in business of creating it’s good to be clear about your posture in this regard. Then be clear about who you’re willing to work with, both up and down the production chain.
I know this doesn’t have anything to do with cameras, equipment, workflow or any of that. But it can make a difference in how much you enjoy your work and how successful you become.
And, on the subject of good advice, I just watched a review of a documentary about the singer/songwriter Bill Withers called “Still Bill“. This piece of advice from Bill caught my ear…
“I realized when I was just a working guy that it’s okay to head out for ‘wonderful’. But on your way to ‘wonderful’ you’re going to have to pass through ‘alright’. And when you get to ‘alright’ take a good look around and get used to it. Because that may be as far as you’re going to go.”
Bill Withers
“Alright” is a a pretty solid place to live and work. Especially when you’re doing it with really good partners. Because every now and then you slip from “alright” into “wonderful” and you get to enjoy that with a bunch of friends.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
-a-
Still Bill Trailer from B-Side Entertainment on Vimeo.
