If You Want The Truth, Ask The Market (Not An Individual)

“New price increase 80%. We cannot do old price again.”

I felt lied to, but the truth is that whether they “calculated costs wrong” or are pulling a deliberate bait-and-switch is irrelevant.

No logical explanation was required, nor an apology.

Email screenshots of prior agreements proved useless.

I thought hard: How did I let this happen? How did I walk myself into this dead-end? How can I prevent a partner from catching me off-guard?

Lengthy contracts, expensive lawyers, my own private militia… these ideas come to mind.

But, my simpler conclusion: I cannot control this individual.

Anybody can change their terms. I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Had I been aware of this company’s freedom to change their prices, I could have prepared by speaking with 3 potential partners instead of just 1.

A conversation with ‘the market’ takes 3 times as long, but you no longer need to trust the words of an individual.

Instead of a story to believe, you have a choice between options.

In each case, you can discern the additional required time against the value of additional options.

If I’m blindsided, the blame is on my side of the negotiating table.