Memo to myself – I need Keyman Insurance
Do not start an online business, blog or other endeavor without commercial liability insurance.
It’s dangerous to have anything go wrong and not have the proper coverage.
You need to protect yourself and your loved ones from painful lawsuits with a policy that covers both property and personal injury liability.
Learn how Keyman Insurance can cover you! Call today for a free quote on 0800-546465 or visit https://www.keymansurance.co.nz/business/wac-covering-businesses/.
Insurance is a personal decision and you should ensure that you fully understand the terms and conditions of the policy to be purchased.
If you have any questions regarding Keyman Insurance, please contact us directly on 0800 - 546465 or send us a message through our website https://www.keymansurance.co.nz/business/wac-covering-businesses/.
Please note that this link leads to a third party provider of insurance for your business with whom we have no direct relationship or affiliation (e.g. Keyman Insurance, NZ).
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ARTICLE END
A post shared by Deon Chen (@deonofthieves) on Jan 10, 2018 at 1:40pm PST
Chapter 16: Dealing with Deadlines
“Nobody ever wrote down a plan to be broke”
- Steve Harvey
Deadlines are non-negotiable. Your business will never be successful without them. In fact, if you are not following a schedule of deadlines, set by your superiors, your team or yourself, you’ll never make any money and you won’t be able to build your own business. There are two types of deadlines:
Done On Time (DoT)
Done Late (DoL)
The difference between DoT and DoL is pretty drastically different.
DoT helps build trust with a customer or client in the sense that if anything happens that prevents them from receiving the service for which they made a commitment, he or she will tell the person responsible to get back on track. However, if you DoL a customer, it will have a negative impact on your brand. If your customers can’t trust you to do what you say you are going to do, they will be hesitant to buy any of your products or services.
You should strive to be as DoT as possible even when it comes to things like the New Zealand post office. I am sure that if you told a client that it would take an extra day for the package they ordered because the postal services screwed up, then they would understand why it was taking so long and would not hold it against you.
However, if you DoL a package, I doubt that would be a good look.
So the question is, what do you do when you know that your product is not going to be delivered on time?
I would recommend sending an email or leaving a message on the customer’s voicemail explaining what happened. If it is your fault, apologize immediately and offer some sort of compensation or refund. You will have to find out what their preferred method of contact is before you send this message so they can contact you right away. Lastly, ask them if they would like you to send another copy of the product, as it may take a while to get to their place.
Most customers will understand that delays do happen.
If you can’t do this yourself because you need to work on creating the product or service, then hire someone else to do it for you and let them know what is going on. Just make sure that person has a good relationship with your client so that when you come in a day late after not having the product shipped soon enough, they can still give them your best apologetic face and hope this will make amends for the situation.
Your deadlines should be realistic. If you have already missed a deadline, but you are still working on it, let your client know the situation. If you are going to miss another deadline and have no way of changing that outcome, let them know well in advance so they can get their money back or a refund for the service they ordered.
You should strive to always keep your customers’ best interest in mind when setting deadlines. The last thing you want is for your customer to be late to an important meeting because the product or service they received from you was late.
Chapter 17: The Monster in the Dark
“Don’t fear evil, fear the lack of it. For when evil appears, it is a messenger from God.”
- Irish Proverb
The biggest threat to your business is a lack of knowledge, or your unwillingness to learn. As I mentioned in Chapter 4, there are plenty of people willing and eager to teach you about the ins and outs of running a business. If you don’t take the time to learn, then you are leaving things out that could save not only your company but also yourself many sleepless nights in the future.
“There is no way to predict the future; it can be influenced but not controlled.” - Steven Pressfield
I am sure that you have heard that before. It is a very true statement, but I have some news for you: your future can be influenced and controlled if you know where to look for a little help. In the business world, there are many helpful resources that have been made available to help small businesses succeed in this new era of adapting to change by embracing technology and using it effectively. I want to introduce you to a few of the ones that will prove helpful when building your own business from scratch or struggling with an existing one.
Conclusion
If you have made it this far then you are closing in on the end of this book. I want to thank you for sticking with me through all of these chapters. It has been a pleasure writing this book and I can’t wait to share more tips and ideas with my readers.
Remember to schedule time each week to work on your business so that you can achieve your goals. I hope you enjoyed reading about the ways that I grew my business and how they may help you grow yours. If they do, please let me know!
I hope this book has inspired you to take action in changing your life for the better.