Credit Matters Newsletters

Welcome to 2017, may it be a good year for you.

We are pleased to announce the topic of Credit Matters first Professional Development Award is now available on our website at www.creditmatters.com.au If you are a Member of Credit Matters, you should have already received your email with details.

You must be a Member of Credit Matters, and it is not too late to join, to be eligible for the Award. Details can be found via our website at www.creditmatters.com.au.

Over the Christmas period, there were problems with our Server in the US. Unfortunately, some of our subscribers may not have received their newsletters as a result. In addition, we found another technical problem with our mailing list.

In fixing the problem, you may now suddenly start receiving the newsletters again. As a consequence, those people who decided to no longer receive their newsletter, may receive another one. I apologise for any inconvenience and hope you will let me know so I can complete the cancellation process again.

Finally, there are changes to our Members area as we remove any out of date features and replace them with new offerings. Please drop by occasionally and see if our new offerings may be of value to your endeavours.

Advertising via Credit Matters

If you are interested in reaching business prospects who may need your services or products, contact Kim to see what he can do for your business. There are many different opportunities to advertise your business via Credit Matters and may not be as costly as you might imagine.

This month, flyers from CreditorWatch, Enable, RSM Australia and Steven Gan's brochure of his book regarding his Japanese work and business experiences are attached.

The innocence of those business owners who believe most of their customers are honest and have integrity, is often misplaced.  In today's business environment, such thinking often leads to heartbreak and financial loss. Sometimes, the innocent or naive business owner even sadly, lose their business.

Yes, there are honest people in business, and there will always be a proportion of people who will continue to operate with utmost integrity. Occasionally of course, even these people make mistakes or a business transaction will not proceed as anticipated, or an invoice is lost in translation. In the main however, these are the customers you need and should work diligently to keep.

Then there are those customers who are honest, because you have encouraged them to be honest. There are business strategies available which you can use to encourage your customers to remain honest. If these customers are found not to be less than desirable, you need to investigate whether they are still profitable.

Finally, there are those people who will never be honest or lack integrity. A number of these people are:

(i) outright crooks;

(ii) business manipulators who use every tactic available and provided by Government Legislation and Acts, to avoid paying, and

(iii) unable to organise a business properly to ensure their business pays their liabilities in a timely manner.

This last group of customers are the most troublesome because they operate a regular business and appear reputable. The problem however, is their management team is usually focused on cheap processes, cheap employees which in turn, impacts adversely on their suppliers and customers. Alternatively, these people are focused on their own short-term interests rather than the integrity and long-term benefit of the trading entity which employs them.

In addition to the customer side of business, Government Legislation now also places responsibility on Directors and senior management teams to act honestly and within specified boundaries of behaviour. Innocence is no longer an excuse, and the innocent are soon penalised by Governments and their agencies for any indiscretion.

As this month's quote suggests; "... the era of innocence is long gone."