Credit Matters Newsletters

The October newsletter is a bit late. As they say, "The best laid plans of mice and men ..." So sorry about that however these things happen.

We are pleased to announce Peter Mills from Thompson Geer will be providing important updates on commercial and credit news issues. This is a new monthly feature which we believe will assist you in the pursuit of your commercial endeavours.

We are also pleased to announce there are now more than 80 business and associated professional bodies listed in our Better Business Club.

Advertising via Credit Matters

If you are interested in reaching a wider group of business prospects, contact Kim to see what we can do for you. For instance, you will note the attached flyers with this newsletter from:

Attached is a flyer advertising the services of two Credit Matters subsidiaries, CMARS and Debtor Control. This coincides nicely with the revamp of both websites. You can find them at www.cmars.com.au and www.debtorcontrol.com.au

ACN have also taken the opportunity to advertise their new service, an EFTPOS facility.

You send an email or make a telephone call and can only leave a message. The party  contacted in either situation fails to respond.

This month's conundrum then makes you wonder; was your message inadvertently missed or is there something else at stake? In a busy world, an email is occasionally missed, as is a left message. We do understand these situations as none of us are perfect.

On the other hand, does the party contacted not respond because of one of these reasons?

(i) They lack manners

(ii) Do not care about your rights to know

(iii) Do not value your association

(iv) They deliberately avoid answering because they have something to hide

(v) They just do not want to pay you!

In either of these later situations, your conundrum is; will the party contacted add value to your business or minimise the opportunities to maximise a return on your business efforts and funds?

Sun Tzu wrote the "Art of War" which described war, the most brutal of all human engagements as an art form. Indeed, as you read the book, you come to understand that waging war successfully, requires more than just soldiers, weapons and a base strategy. You need to also understand the art of war.

As Sun Tzu articulates, you need first to win the battle within your army's own organisation in order to win the outside war. Once you have that battle won and your organisation in order, you can commence the war.

Business is akin to war. In the war of business, you need the best suppliers and products available,  win  the customer from your competitors, and eliminate those customers which don't want to pay or add value to your business. To assist with these objectives, you need a stable and committed team in which everybody understands their role in this business war.

Unfortunately and to the horror of many businesspeople, this is why they soon find the business environment is more of a war against others rather than a simple case of just making money.  Furthermore these same business people soon find simple or normal business procedures are never enough by themselves to guarantee success or even survival.

Only over time, do business people come to understand they need something more than basic and normal business processes to become successful and survive. Developing a more artistic approach to business is one such characteristic which can help achieve these objectives.

"The Art of Business" is still relevant today. Like building an army, a business person needs to first start building the best possible business organisation. The size of business is irrelevant. The  micro-business of  one person is not excused from this exercise, nor is the major corporate organisation. Each business encounters the same organisational issues articulated by Sun Tzu.

Once your organisation is ready for business, you need to understand how businesspeople operate, the nature of your chosen marketplace, the strength and weaknesses of your competitors and finally, you need to come to grips with the question: "what is business?"

The problem many people bring to their business is they fail to understand what it takes to be a business owner. For instance, the difference between being a professional person or a manager of somebody else's business is vastly different to becoming a business owner in your own right. The problem for many business owners is in this transition period where they transfer from what they were, to the role of business owner.

It is also interesting to see those business people who were successful from almost the beginning of their business enterprise, who then struggle to maintain the momentum over the long-term. Other business enterprises will struggle for years and then close down because the business model was unsustainable. Yet again, there are those business enterprises which will survive many years, yet never reach their true potential.

Sadly, in the modern world today, we rarely see business artists at work building a great business. There are many people who can grow and operate a business and become successful for a period of time. However when you see their business fail, it is often because these same business people forgot all the attributes which made them successful in the first place.

The true artist of any endeavour is always aware of the attributes of what it takes to be the best artist they can be at any one time. Therefore they are conscious of not becoming arrogant, being willing to learn, both from others and from their own mistakes, and explore new boundaries because their world never stops changing.

Unfortunately in the modern business, these attributes are often forgotten. It is amazing how success breeds arrogance or complacency and a "... belief based on past successes, we now have the formula success."

The true business artist knows there is no such thing as long-term success without continuing to practice their art form. They also know, succeeding in business is not a straight-line success story. There will be highs and lows where the highs can be enjoyed and celebrated and the lows can be a period of reflection and learning.

As such, the art of business is not just about having and employing the raw assets of a business. The art of business is therefore knowing; how to manage these assets and all the other aspects of being in a business war.