“It’s not you, it’s me…”
“Let’s just be friends…”
“I’m just not ready for a relationship right now…”

Whichever way you sugar coat it, break ups are a hard. And although the demise of a romantic relationship is emotionally gut-wrenching and awful, the breakdown of a professional relationship can be just as catastrophic for our hearts.

We’re complex creatures us humans, and whether you’ve worked together on a project or you’re just business acquaintances, if the relationship starts to sour it can be a tough situation to navigate. Differences of opinion and varying priorities – even how you view the relationship – can taint how you interact with people. The shock realisation that a person you considered to be a good friend as well as a work colleague actually now seems to just out for themselves or their business and profits can be a bitter pill to swallow.

I’m not going to lie, this happened to me not so long ago. Someone I considered to be more than just a business acquaintance (i.e. I figured we were pretty good friends actually) stabbed me in the back. I’m sure they had their reasons (in fact I know they did because I spoke to them about it) but it still hurt. Badly.

If you’re ever in this situation, just remember this is business, not the playground, and for some people that will always come first. And why shouldn’t it… they do this to feed their family and to give themselves the life they always wanted. To many people that’s more important than trivial online relationships… and that’s their prerogative.

When you run your own business, everything is personal, which is why if some business relationships don’t work out in can feel like the worst thing in the world. But you know what, in this instance the clichés are probably true. Unless you did something awful to them it certainly is their issue not yours, and who wants to be associated with someone like that anyway?