Chapter 1. How COMMITTED Are You?

In Chapter 1, I touch on the importance of YOUR Philosophy towards business by asking these questions:

What is the mental attitude influencing your behaviour in business?

What is your attitude towards serving people?

What is your attitude towards providing exceptional value?

What is your attitude towards delivering on your promises?

What is your attitude towards seeking, learning and applying new concepts?

What is your attitude towards networking with like-minded people?

What is your attitude towards making a difference in life?

Do you believe in 'Service With A Smile' and that the 'Customer is King', or are you a 'take-it-or-leave-it' begrudging service provider who believes that every customer is out to rip you off?

Do you believe that your customer has the right to search for and demand 'What's-In-It-For-Me' (WIIFM) VALUE, or do you cut costs and short-change your customers to boost your margins?

Do you share your profits with your staff?

Do you allow your staff to earn more than you?

Do you allow your staff to build profits for you?

Or do you unintentionally limit the growth of your company by limiting the growth of your people?

Seems crazy to be asking these questions, doesn't it?

But the reality is that many business entrepreneurs that I've seen in business actually don't seem to want to serve their markets. Yet in South Africa for some reason, some of these people still do pretty well. I expect that to be a sign of a market with more demand than supply.

Here are some examples of poor business philosophy that I came across at time of penning this book:

I am currently dealing with a company right now which I estimate is leaving about R400 000 a month on the table in just one small project, and whose management and staff are constantly undermining each other in trying to curry favour with 'The Boss' who is cost-centred and not customer-centred.

Consequently, they over-promise and under-deliver of a very poor service, putting a multi-million-Rand-income tender at very high risk of loss.

In my own community of 4000 households, I witness a local shopping centre management team constantly thumbing their nose at local community initiatives driven by a forceful community Residents Association.

The centre management's team are also the property developers and they have a 'take-it-or-leave-it' 'we-do-as-we-want' attitude to any attempt by the Resident's Association to get them to clean up their act.

Consequently the Resident's Association has officially termed this centre a 'blight' on the community.

Now if just 1500 (37.5%) of these 4000 households, all supportive of the Residents Association, withhold just R1000 p.m. of essential purchases from this centre, that's a conservative loss of R1.5 Million per month.

That's R18 Million a year down the tubes!

And the shopping centre developers attitude? - 'We don't really care'!

Yet, their tenants are crying for business.

I call it COMMERCIAL SUICIDE.

Now, I do believe that I can postulate why these developers don't care.

One, there is a demand for retail space by first-time entrepreneurs who are willing to throw their houses and homes as surety to secure over-priced retail space.

Two, the mere fact that the retailer signs sureties to the landlord means that the landlord almost cannot lose... they just attach all fixtures and fitting... sue for the rest... and put a new tenant in to repeat the process.

Oh boy... understanding people's business philosophies can save one a fortune.

Regards
Trevor Nel - 011 - 705-2790 - www.innercircleforum.com
trevor@innercircleforum.com