Give and Take
Starting off a business or an enterprise can be quiet challenging. Whatever business you want to venture there are already people who are existing in that area way before you, so what then is the assurance that you would succeed in it? What customers go after is value. We spend time thinking of millions of ways to convince a customer or client to patronize us. It is not a bad idea but all of this would be in vain if what we are presenting to them is of no value.
I read a book about finances and the author said that if you try to benefit from a customer without offering value then you are a scammer. As harsh as that sounds but that is practically the definition of what scamming is all about. In the game of business, it is give and take, just like it is generally in life. Notice that 'give' comes first before 'take'. But the mistake we make is that we want to receive first before we give. It doesn't really work like that.
There's a common saying between certain people in business which is pay before service. In some cases it is totally understandable. But as an upcoming business person, we should not be too eager about the pay first before we offer our services. People who confidently make that statement are those who have a good track record in rendering valuable services. But for you who is still starting off, people are still skeptical about you.
My brother told me about a colleague of his who is a barber. When he started off he didn't have a shop. He moved around with his clipper inside a fanny pack. His prices was very affordable compared to other barbers and despite the fact that his service was excellent. My brother even admitted to getting haircuts from him free of charge on some occasion.
After giving value to his customers, when he finally opened his shop it wasn't difficult to get customers because he had already built trust with people by the value he had given them. Even though the location of his shop was hidden, people still located him at his shop to get haircuts from him.
This is what given value first before expecting pay gets you. If he was all about the money at the initial stage he may not have gotten customers as he did after opening his shop especially as the location wasn't really open. As a start up, value should be the top priority.
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