Business Sphere

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The term “business-like” is one of the most expressive in general use. It includes many attributes such as reliability, integrity, efficiency and a sense of values.

To be business-like is to have the excellence that makes a business stand out from others, and which is derived from clear judgment, applied experience, superior capability and a touch of artistry.

Success is not to be measured solely by how you earned  income. The limitations of environment, your social responsibility to the community, how you deal with your employees, and your relationship with the customers and the public at large – all these must be taken into account.

By way of an example, the business of a city merchant may expand by a million dollars a year and yet he may be properly regarded as less successful than a small town merchant whose business is increasing at the rate of ten thousand dollars a year.

This means the two merchants are to be judged by the use they make of the opportunities that exist in the community where they operate.

An author, John R. Heron, in his article published in the Royal Bank Letters years ago, said that many persons mention “the little extra” as the secret of their business-building success. What is this “little extra”?

It seems to be made up of things done without thought or advantage, of services not strictly within the firm’s function, of courtesies skillfully performed, of a kind word in season, of just listening sympathetically to a customer’s troubles.

Since business exists for the customer, being sure that the customer is satisfied with his purchase is worthwhile. It is time-consuming, but it can add the little extra weight that will shift the competitive balance in favor of the company practicing it.

To be “business-like” therefore, is to operate a business to the fullest extent of its trade possibilities. These include, among others:

1. To serve the needs of the customers.

2. To provide good quality products and services that meet customers’ needs and preferences.

3. To deal with the employees fairly and equitably, paying decent wages according to law.

4. To be responsible citizen of the community, contributing to its well-being.

As the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead said, “A great society is a society in which its men of business think greatly of their functions.”