Tips for small-business owners that will help build positive customer relationships. By Siobhan Ortega, Contributing Writer 'll be honest: My business knowledge is strictly based on trial and error. But after five years in the apparel game, I know I would have tanked after the first year if I didn't have good relationships with my customers. For most of my life, I have been told that I am too emotional. But rather than taking a more mechanical, robot-like approach to my work, I focus on connecting with my customers. I own a home-based business in Madera, California. In this small community, it is easy for word to spread that someone new and local has started a business. People quickly get competitive, and positive and negative news travel fast, which means first impressions easily make or break a sale. P.30 I M P R E S S I O N S M A G . C O M MAY 2017http://www.IMPRESSIONSMAG.COM