Key to Successful Business: Be Sincere and Honest

Today's world is thriving with technological advancements. Each and every activity of our life is directly or indirectly influenced by the technology; so as the business. It is believed that a business not sensing the importance of technology in its operations would, ultimately, lose the race. Is this true? In my opinion, the nature of the human behavior (behavior of the entrepreneur and management) decides a business's fate, not the technology. The technology is nothing itself, its use creates the difference, and it is the human who uses the technology. So, human factor is the most decisive to drive an organization towards success or failure. The following discussion touches the basics as how and why the the behavior of a businessman and his/her managers makes his/her business to go up or to fall down. A good behavior means growing business, and a bad behavior leads to failure. Sincerity and honesty are the dominating parts of good behavior in business. By adopting and sticking with the golden rules of sincerity and honesty, you will never feel dissatisfied with your business, and with your personal life too. There may come some periods when you feel your fair behavior is causing some problems with your business, but in longer term, the win is yours.

Be Sincere And Honest To Your Business:

You and your business have the most fundamental and important relationship. Your business needs your full care. If you don't care about you business, it will not care about you. Instead, its reaction to your casual approach might be very sharp and terrible: It can destroy itself and you.

1. Devote your full attention to your business. Think a thousand time before starting the business, but when you have jumped in it, stick to your decision: No second thought. If you have started the business but still indecisive and your interests and thoughts are scattered; it means you are ruining your business. Involvement in a business is just like a marriage. If you do not show full interest in your wife and her requirements, your domestic life will be badly disturbed, or even broken.

2. When you are in your office or business place, dedicate yourself to your responsibilities. Do the business, and do it firmly. Your interest must be to maximize earnings from the business so that you become self-sufficient, not a burden on anyone.

3. Strictly observe the time schedule and attend the office or your business place with firm attitude and in satisfied manner.

4. Try to start the working day from the early morning. It is said that "Work in the morning has blessings."

Be Sincere And Honest To Your Customers:

The objective of every business is to create customers, expansion in their numbers, and to ensure sustainable and growing sales. Your business's life and growth directly depend on how your customers rate you. Satisfied and happy customers are the most effective tool to promote your business, with no promotional costs. Dissatisfied and angry customers are the promoters of the worst for your business, and this promotion can destroy your business if the number of such negative perceptions increases. To retain, maintain, and promote your customer-base, "love" your customers as you love your family members. "Word of mouth" of your customers is the most trusted and powerful promotional medium for promoting your business. If you are successful to earn the confidence, trust, and happiness of your customers, you will earn everything you desire; profits, business expansions, a leading place in your industry, reputation, goodwill, and whatever you desire.

1. Always be truthful in your dealings to develop your business. Strictly avoid false promises.

2. Always follow the principle of honesty in your business. Your efforts should be to offer the best to the customers. If you are not, yourself, satisfied with a product, never offer it to the customers.

3. Never try to deceive your customers. Never try to hide a defect in your product from your customers. Let them know clearly about the defect. If a customer complains about a purchased product, or want to return a faulty product, quickly attend him/her with open heart and gracious attitude. Satisfy your customer by solving his/her problem on priority basis or by replacing his/her returned product. This practice will result in building a deep trust of customers on you. Your business will grow up and up if your customers trust you.

4. Never involve yourself in practicing hoarding, i.e. not selling the goods and keeping them in secret storage waiting for a rise in their prices. Hoarding is a very dirty practice and severely affects the reputation of your business.

5. Give your customer his/her full rights. Never sell in lesser weight or size than agreed upon. This is a practice of extreme dishonesty and will demolish your image and business.

6. Be very kind, gracious, and humble to your customers.

7. Don't sell on credit, but if you do, then be very polite to the borrowers. Neither disappoint them nor force them to pay. Facilitate them to pay you back with convenience.

8. Charge minimum net profit. I believe, "the profit should be equal to the quantity of salt that goes to normal dough." What is the percentage of salt in normal bread dough? 1%? Or less than that? Believe me, this pricing strategy will be a superb step to boost your business within days. It has multi-pronged benefits for your business and for all of your stakeholders. When you charge minimum profit, maximum people will be able to use your products, and this will direct an unbelievable customer-traffic towards your sales points. You will observe a tremendous rise in your sales volume, and overall profit. I personally witnessed some of the businesses adopting this pricing method and getting an almost "uncontrollable" customers rush. Besides all of this, charging minimum profit is a great public service as well. But remember! Never ever compromise on your product quality and other allied features while charging minimum profit. If you do so, despite of your lower prices, you will earn a bad reputation.

Be Sincere And Honest To Your Employees:

Your employees are the backbone of your business. They are the main channel connecting your business to your customers. The level of the employees' satisfaction and happiness is an indicator as how much your customers are satisfied and happy with your business.

1. Treat employees like your family members. Always be concerned about their well being and to help resolve their personal and domestic problems.

2. Do work hard and make your employees habitual of hard work.

3. Pay all the rights of employees with liberality and selflessness.

4. Be kind and broad-minded to your employees. Avoid doubting your employees or teasing them on normal and ordinary issues. Never use abusive or insulting language or disgracing attitude with your employees. Give them respect.

5. Pay your employees justly, according to the nature of responsibility, performance, skills, experience and educational capabilities. The compensation should be such that it covers all their expenses and expenditures; otherwise your organization may face the situations of financial mishaps, like ,cheating, fraud, embezzlement. For example, if you pay an employee $1000/month but his/her expenditures requires $1300/month, and that he/she has no other earning source than this job. Then it is obvious that he/she will cover the deficit of $300/month from your business, by using other means

6. Never compromise on agreed-upon performance. The employee must know what to do. Provide him/her with all the required resources and authority to discharge his/her responsibilities effectively and efficiently.

7.  Always open-heartedly encourage and appreciate your employees for their good performance and achievements; by using praising words, job promotions, bonuses, cash rewards, and so on. Never discourage an employee for weak performance or any mistake done. Personally and sincerely consult such an employee to detect the cause(s) behind the poor performance or other mistakes. The reasons may be work-related, domestic issues, some personal problems, or anything else. Honestly help and assist the employee to resolve his/her problems as soon as possible.

8. Strictly observe the work codes and discipline and never allow an employee to violate the set and well-communicated disciplinary rules and procedures. Take prompt and appropriate action against such an violation.

Be Sincere And Honest To Your Community:

Beside your customers, your target market, and your employees, your image to the neighborhood surrounding your business-place matters very high, not only for your present business, but for your future growth as well. Your strong community-friendly image will become a strong support for you to improve and expand your business. Your care towards your surrounding community and your sense of community-participation are the key roles that help you and your business to be recognized positively and friendly in your surroundings and, ultimately, in your customers and your target market.

1. Take ultimate care to cause no inconvenience to anyone or to any activity in your business-place neighborhood because of your business activities.

2. Keep clear, clean, and green the close surroundings of your business place. By doing this, your surrounding community will feel very positive and cheerful about you.

3. Try to initiate, or participate        in, community welfare       programs. For example, you can     set up a system to help the         needy people in your community,   can contribute in community development activities, can develop green belts in your area to prove yourself environmental friendly, can help to develop public parks and play areas, and can take a number of other meaningful community-welfare initiatives.

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