How to Know When a Vendor Becomes a Business Partner

(Pamela Moore/istockphoto.com)(Pamela Moore/istockphoto.com)"You didn't build that" is now part of presidential campaign history. But here's where we stand with regard to that whole controversy: When we look at our 18-year-old business, we're very confident that we did "build that," but we also agree that there were many people who "along the line gave us some help." Among the people to whom we owe a debt of gratitude are teachers, relatives, early investors who took a chance on us, and the guys who constructed the roads that bring our customers to us.

Then there are the people who fall somewhere in between — our partners. These are the businesspeople who make a difference in our clubs every day, even though officially they are "vendors" and we are their "customer." These are our go-to guys who we know have our backs. If you don't have people and vendors like this in your corner, you need to look for new ones.

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