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Even if Danny is too busy to take on a new customer he will ring back and tell them this. He will even recommend his competition if they are desperate. They remember this and will probably call again when he is less busy. Even if
customer thinks Danny's prices are too high, fact that he called them back will mean they end up coming back to him.
Cost control is another major factor. It is very easy to spend more than you are earning. You can earn a £1000 and spend £1200 without even trying. It is vitally important that you watch every penny that goes out and make sure your incomings are greater than your outgoings.
At any given time you should know to nearest tenner how much is in your bank account and when next bills are coming. When Danny started he spent £57 pounds on advertising. He then made £35 on his first job and £35 on second. He was now in profit and from then on never spent more than he made.
Part of cost control involves chasing up customers who are slow to pay. Usually one phone call will do trick although if necessary a daily call for a week will either produce results or kind of hostile situation where you and your customer part company.
One particular customer was late in paying so Danny called them and they said they would pay. After several attempts they still had not paid so he resorted to phoning everyday. This resulted in company eventually refusing to pay just to stop calls.
You cannot please everybody and so sooner or later one of your customers will not pay up even if it's not your fault. Later that month Danny had a call from a debt collection agency. He explained that he had very little bad debt problems except for one mentioned. This was for such a small amount that normally agency's percentage would be too small so he just gave whole debt to them.
At least company would get hassled by them for payment. Phoning everyday is annoying to your customer and should obviously be a last resort but Danny's time is valuable. He needs to know which companies are trustworthy and which are time wasters. This tactic is annoying to your customer but will distinguish one from other. Most pay. The one's that don't are one's best avoided anyway.
Danny also likes to pay his bills on time so that he knows where he is financially. He does not like to deal with companies who only pay up after 90 days and then are still late. He knows of several companies with 90 day payment terms who then pay up only after 5 months. Danny was asked for 3 computers by one such company but when they refused to pay on delivery, declined their business. He remembers working for a company who delayed their payment to save on interest etc. What they saved on interest they lost in cooperation from their suppliers.
Once you are successful, your company will need to grow. The rules for growth of your company are different from ones in earlier paragraph. Cost control is still vitally important but you may have to borrow money to speed up your growth. You probably could finance your growth from your own income but to speed this up you can borrow money.
The amount should never be more than 10% of your earnings. If you take risks you could lose your house and your family! This is a conservative figure and some borrow a much larger percentage BUT business can be dangerous. You never know when other things can go wrong and so you should NEVER overstretch yourself.
In UK property developers can afford to risk more of their money since country is overpopulated and price of property tends to double every six years. Any investment is likely to be a safe bet but obviously one needs to take care not to buy property in an area run by hooligans or which is near an area which is close to a potential motorway or airport!
"What motivates you to keep going?" I asked Danny. He paused and thought for a while:
"Looking at other people. For example, I was in a well known burger place other week looking at counter staff running round like headless chickens. All of them had slave written on front of their heads and sucker tattooed on back.
Even manager who had a different coloured shirt to show that he is special, looked like he had left his brain at home and had a face like thunder. He looked so miserable. When my son is misbehaving and not working at school, l ask him if he wants to work at a burger bar or be a road sweeper. He gets point".
One well known guru suggests driving your kids to poor part of town and asking them "Do you want to live here?" Another good place to make you feel motivated is to watch near a train station in morning. Look at all those poor little ants trudging into bondage. It always makes Danny smile.
One trick Danny uses is to imagine himself in a situation he would hate like being in a residential home when he gets old with two grand in bank. The other side is to imagine himself in a yacht in Barbados surrounded by nubile young women giving him a massage three times a day. The massage oils are gently warming in microwave ready for next massage.
You imagine yourself in worst and best situation. You know that if you do nothing you will end up in worst situation but if you work for yourself you may end up in best.
To sum up: work for yourself, sell something, live long and prosper! "
John Watson is an info publisher on the internet and a martial arts school owner. He taught Religious Studies and Life Skills to teenagers in London schools for about 33 years before retiring in 2000 A.D. His own e-books and those of the English multimillionaire, Stuart Goldsmith, can be found on his site at www.motivationtoday.com
