Good Business Practices

It is good to hear people whom you know started a small business either due to personal interests or to make ends meet. If you know that person, tendency is you will support the person in their business; either through purchasing their stuffs or spreading word-of-mouth about the existance of the business.

However, it is quite unfortunate that some of these people tend to take their customers for granted. The result? Late orders, late delivery, wrong orders, price inflation. And the worse part is coming up with lots of IRRELEVANT/INVALID excuses to defend themselves.

What is that supposed to mean or reflect? Come on, man! You have customers and the first important step in business is to gain the customers trust so they will come back for more. Nowadays, the impact of word-of-mouth is great. Negative word-of-mouth will bring even greater impact. If you don't stick to your promise, then what's the point of even embarking on the business? A waste of time, I must say.

Suppose, you plan to give the product as a birthday present to someone. When there's late delivery, will that mean that the birthday girl/guy will receive the present late? Worse still, important functions like weddings. Late delivery means late distribution of wedding cards. How like that?

So for those who in/will be starting a small business, here's some tips from a business student.

1) Plan early. No matter how busy you are with other 101 things, dedicate some time to your business as business is a form of commitment.

2) Plan your budget before starting the business, find suppliers etc before you even spread a word about your business.

3) Inform your customers early if in the midst you discover that their requests/specs is beyond your capabilities. If you are being truthful, there will be no problems in the later part & trust me, customers will appreciate your honesty!

4) Gain customers trust by: correct & truthful pricing (don't practice favortism discounts) & punctual deliveries. Make sure your product is of at least satisfactory quality.

5) Stick to your promise. If you promise to deliver TODAY, heck by all means, deliver TODAY! If personal delivery is not possible, then arrange other alternatives with the customers during the order phase where & when to collect.

6) If for whatever reasons you need to outsource, then monitor the third party so that whatever they do will not affect your planning for that customer.

These are the basics that you need to comply. Remember, word-of-mouth is still the most powerful marketing tool!

Josh, if you are reading this, any other tips email me yar?
Thanks bro :)

Till then, Love!