dickbaker - 6:33 am on Dec 20, 2009 (gmt 0)

Are you sure you're not really me? That story sounds familiar.

My sales aren't where I'd like them, but they're not as bad as I was expecting for this economy. Still, my margins are a slim as I can make them, as competition is fierce. I make about 10% on most of my items.

I get law enforcement and members of the military calling, wanting to know if I give discounts. At first I did, but I realized that I'm making so little profit that I can't afford to be generous. Now I tell them that my margins are so slim that any discount I would offer would be an insult. Some of them hang up. They probably go somewhere else, get a discount, and pay as much or more than I charge.

I played the doormat role in my last business, and all it got me was a failed business.