8 Facets From Richard Haruni

Do business with people you like. This is your life and you’re going to spend most of your life doing it.  You’re going to spend more time on it than you do with your partners and family and you’re going to spend more time here than you do awake at home. So make it enjoyable and that starts with working with people you enjoy doing business with.

Always have an idea of where you’re trying to go with something before you start out. Whether it’s a fully fledged business plan, or a rough idea sketched out on the back of an envelope, it’s always good to have an idea of where you want to go with the endeavour you start.  That way if you deviate, for better or worse, you will still have a bearing to guide you back, or move on from.  Trust me it’s just handy.

Put your website to work for you. More and more your website is going to matter.  Use it to set out your stall.  Let it communicate your abilities and skills as well as your products and services.  Use it to start a conversation with your customers.

Build a network of trusted resources around you who you can count on to deliver. Even if it costs more. We have become price obsessed, and that is a problem.  It’s a problem because it stops the people we do business with doing their job well.  We think that by cutting costs, we are saving money, but in my life this has never been true.  In fact the opposite is almost always true.  The ‘I can do this cheaper myself’ attitude is often the worst of all.  You will find that specialists in specific fields; gem dealing, setting, graphic design to name a few will often benefit your business more than if you were to try and resolve all those issues in house.  They are staying at the cutting edge of their field and that should enable you to stay at the cutting edge of yours.

Don’t strengthen your weaknesses – get someone else to do the things you are not very good at. We’ve always been brought up to work at our weaknesses, but there is a new school of thought that says ‘don’t strengthen your weaknesses, but work with someone whose strength your weaknesses is.

Don’t get your accountant to do your books. I have learned the hard way that bookkeepers and accountants are 2 very difficult types of people.  Book keepers like numbers to add up and accountants like to wrap things up.

Stay on top of your finances. I am as guilty of letting this one get the better of me.  Just because you think you’re always selling, and you think you’re making a profit, you will be surprised at how out you might be with your numbers.  You should aim to have a monthly profit and loss account given to you by your bookkeeper.  That way you can monitor you progress good or bad and make the necessary adjustments.