Lying for money and credit is a problem not openly discussed properly and except for family and friends, can all too easily be glossed over, or quietly hidden by written off any debt by a business. These business actions are intended to minimise and/or avoid embarrassment by hiding the problem and/or to help individuals avoid being held accountable for bad personal and business decisions.
When people are desperate for money, success, or to achieve that extra bonus, they become susceptible to lying when money or credit is involved. In many ways, both civil society and the business community are to blame for this state of affairs.
These changes from our civil society and business community have been driven by a change in behaviour due to factors of:
- a lack of personal responsibility and disciplines,
- those who believe they are entitled to special consideration,
- a lack of ethics and moral responsibilities,
- the FOMO (the fear of missing out) factor,
- the well-intentioned actions of do-gooders who do not understand human behaviour and/or accept any responsibility for the damaging outcomes to the individuals involved and society in general,
- reactionary judgements from the courts which condone bad behaviour and protect the guilty,
- the business community making bad decisions due to the hideous costs of legal action to defend their rights, plus the inability of the courts to enforce their positive decisions upon the guilty, etc.
The truth is that under these modern conditions, increasingly, providing money and credit in all its forms is becoming ever riskier. It goes without saying then, your family and business cannot continue to provide money or credit in the easy-going manner of the past.
COVID changed attitudes to people’s rights and responsibilities to the extent that all credit providers and any other organisation with lax business systems and processes, are now at risk. Even those businesses that don’t extend credit or finance, yet provide work, services or products upfront before payment, can also be at risk for the same reasons.
What has become evident due to COVID, is that you simply cannot trust anybody as once you would have. The closest you will come to trust any party, is when you fully understand them and their particular circumstances. Too often in the past, I heard businesspeople say, “I have always been paid!” I respectively suggest, that this statement will not remain intact in the coming months and years for many of these businesspeople.
Failing to understand the new world, where people, many you may have known and dealt with in the past, will become “lying debtors”. As the banks and many financiers have discovered in recent times, “liar loans” are on the increase.
Lying for money and credit, has been a historical problem which continues today. Too often in the past, many people were not prepared to identify the problem in an honest and effective manner. As a consequence, today, and into the future, businesses are going to find that people will increasingly lie to obtain your money and become a problem which cannot be ignored.
The answer for the future will to be circumspect when others approach you for money and credit, and adapt accordingly with increased due diligence and different sales strategies.
Want to know more, contact Kim at kim@creditmatters.com.au, or +61 3 9886 6707 Mobile 0411 649 261, or have a look at what we offer via our website at www.creditmatters.com.au
