Dear Queenie,
I’m a computer expert and I have my own business, working from my home. My regular clients all deal with me professionally, but there are a lot of friends and relatives and even just neighbors who keep asking me for answers to what they say are “quick questions”, but their problems usually take a lot of time to fix, and they never offer to pay me for the time that I could have spent working for a paying client.
Queenie, what is a pleasant way to deal with these people professionally?—Computer expert
Dear Computer expert,
When they call you, tell them up-front how much you charge per hour for your services and ask them where to send the bill. Then, if they are family or friends you can give them a discount, stating clearly on their bill exactly how much the discount is or telling them up-front that you will do so.
