Business 101, which I learned a few decades past.

It is always easier, and less expensive, to keep an existing customer than to get a new one. Why don’t they teach these things these days.

I don’t think you even need to teach that . I should think it’s common sense .

But I think the problem is that many businesses have suffered under the Covid lockdowns etc and are now under hard pressure to make a quick buck to balance the books . A business that is fighting to survive doesn’t have time for long termism

I’d rather have fr200 a month than fr1200 once a year. And if I could build up a decent clientele they would do my advertising for me.

I used to get the hard sell every time i had my hair done at one particular hair salon I went to for a bit in Scotland. They'd use a new product on your hair then recommend you buy it, I know through hairdressers I've spoken to that hair products have a huge markup. I think a staff got a cut of the sale. It's never happened to me here, yet I used to go to a well known chain in Basel.

If you believe you’re going under in a month or two anyway and are only concerned with clearing your debt , what does it matter whether a customer is coming back ?

If I was in that situation, I’d slash my prices and put up big signs saying “Staying in Business Sale”; Offer a loyalty program rewarding repeat customers with free samples; put pressure on my suppliers to give me more free samples.

Taking 1,200 up front adds a debt load that might put me over the edge.