I am by nature a very generous person. When I see a need, my first instinct is to try to help. Because of this, I find that I'm always making promises to my friends and family. There are, of course, times when circumstances change and I'm not able to fulfill my promise. Do you know that, if they wanted to, many of these individuals could bring a successful lawsuit against me for failing to do what I promised?
This could also happen to you in the business world. I know that many small business people rely on handshake agreements and the principle of "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" when dealing with business associates. I've been told many that they prefer to NOT use written contracts because it denotes a lack of trust. Well, unless you are careful about how you hand out favors (especially when relying on handshake agreements) you may one day find yourself in court. Watch this 2 min video to find out why and how to avoid this fate.
