I still remember vividly that day at Scotiabank. I had just started university and wanted a line of credit for my small business. I had my business plan, which allegedly was important and met the manager. I was looking for $5000 and my father was willing to co-sign. He was not interested and for all intents and purposes told me to stop wasting his time.

The funny thing is now a decade later. Scotiabank really wants me as a client. Mortgage, credit cards, even lines of credit. I suspect that I make banks money now. I have a good job, have a house and some investments. But I’ll never bank with Scotia.

If you have a really big business, I think you need to be careful in not pissing off future clients. Maybe It wasn’t worth that manager’s time then, but if you didn’t care about me then, I won’t care about you now.