Who do you think you are – A BUSINESSMAN or a BEGGAR?

I know that you wouldn’t have thought of this comparison. But that’s exactly how I have been feeling sometimes when I have to keep calling people for old payments, of a firm that we have wound up. After repeated follow-ups, they give a date but only to give another date, and another. I feel as I am asking for charity and not my deserved payment.

Do you also have to keep calling your clients over and over again to clear your dues? Sometimes soft, sometimes rough, sometimes irritated and sometimes pleading. Isn’t this exactly how a roadside beggar does when he knocks on your window? They will fold their hands, extend their hand, show you a baby that needs to be fed, and get irritated on you if they are having a bad day.

I concluded – If you are into a product or service that is easily available in the market or there are alternatives available or they are replaceable or they are not dependent on who sells it, then your customers will never care for you. They care a damn about the old payments and find new providers while they still owe you money. It just means that there is nothing unique about you or your offerings.

When there is nothing irreplaceable about your offerings, your business will always be under price-war or extension of credit. Which means that your margins would have already shrunk and there will be tremendous competition in your field. It is just a matter of time until you realize that the efforts you are putting in are not proportional to what you are earning.

Here are some suggestions on what should be done –

• Sincerely think about your offerings. You need to become proactive and find a way to become unique
• Pure trading will never earn big profits for you. You need to value add something to earn more
• Possess some knowledge, which will be beneficial to your customers. Even if the product/ service is not unique, your knowledge needs to be above your competition. More importantly – the knowledge should be such that a client is willing to pay you a premium for it or come back to you again and again
• Is there a gap in the market, where there are very few suppliers? Even if it is not your field, you must look into it with an open mind. A little extra effort to learn that product/ service line, but can help you earn more and become unique
• Can you offer something new to a repeat client? It could be a product/ service, a scheme, extra discounts, new presentation, creative ideas, or anything, which will make them come to you over and over again. Can you make them fall in love with you?

As a businessman you should be working on ideas, strategies, new offerings, collaborations, quality control, marketing, visibility, networking and R&D. Instead, I have seen most of a businessman’s time goes in following up for payment and organizing funds. I am not saying that it is not an important aspect of business. But what is equally important is – where do you invest most of your time in the day while you are at work?

You and your business will rise only when you focus on things that you should be doing, and not on following up for payments. I realised that my old business was starting to have limitations. So, I moved to something, which is unique, has limited players and allows me to keep being creative – The Concrete Works. It is distinctive, and I am able to work on the terms that are suitable for me.

A great business is always that which keeps you a BUSINESSMAN and doesn’t make you anything else (read beggar) that needs to plead every single day!