Need to be ALMOST a miracle worker to run a profitable business these days do ya

[Virago]

...those in the food chain above and below me want me dead. I have turnover for the taking, but the sharks are getting sneakier...Its my suppliers and my customers who are getting underhand...A new attitude is required

Therein lies your problem.

Seeing competitors as "the enemy" is bad enough, but if you view your suppliers and customers in the same light, you are doomed.

Business is all about relationships. Those relationships take a great deal of work to build and maintain. It won't happen overnight, but the trust and mutual respect will eventually build to the point that your relationship will survive the ups and downs, and occasional hiccups.

My own business recently passed the five year mark. To mark the occasion, we took a very large "morning tea" into our largest supplier, to celebrate with them. We spent over an hour with them, talking to all the staff.

My suppliers and customers are simply colleagues. We trust each other.

As a result, I don't even chase work, it comes to me.

I don't ride my bike much at the moment, I sit here at the computer all weekend, churning out a never-ending stream of large invoices. Sigh.

You're right, a new attitude is required. It's worth thinking about.

[middleaged2wheeler]

the catch cry of the previous decades was" NOT ENOUGH COMPETITION "in our economy. Extremes of NOT ENOUGH and TOO MUCH--have the same result do they not at the end of the day--too much means failures and low incomes who can,t buy AND not much competition means low income can,t buy anyway because of high prices.. WHAT A CRUDE WAY OF RUNNING SUPPLY AND DEMAND.
IN the 1960,s we had stockplies of wool, meat, grains AND stockplies were FROWNED on---these days they ar called statregic RESERVES in some countries especially food --and not considered silly at all. MY HOW ATTITUDES HAVE CHANGED.

[CookMySock]

the govt sets the enviroment in which you operate--with rules,taxes etc etc and whether free or controlled market in your arena of work

Haw haw, you are not in business are you ? There are workarounds for everything - its just a matter of finding them.

there are forces beyond your control which you have to make sense of and win over, with in a competitive situation and sometimes OVER COMPETITION is pretty destructive.

You will go down the toilet with that attitude. The only way to compete is to kill. It's not immoral, you will be widely celebrated, not only as "successful" but as a leader in the community.

Get sneaky, take control. Fuck the lot of them, take what's yours. Take it quick before someone else does. Don't flinch or have morals, there is no time for that, only the quick and the hungry will remain.

DB

[Virago]

...Fuck the lot of them, take what's yours. Take it quick before someone else does. Don't flinch or have morals, there is no time for that, only the quick and the hungry will remain.

DB

I rest my case.

[CookMySock]

My suppliers and customers are simply colleagues. We trust each other.

SNORT!! BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Until they get a better deal you are on borrowed time. Get real.. A long term arrangement like that is more a liability than an asset! If they so much as wiggle their little finger, everything you hold dear will be on the rocks, unless you can diversify, or get a new business arrangement quick. People who turn up here wanting to put smoko on for me are in my pocket and I can do as I choose with them.. I wish I had more like that.

My business is approaching the TWENTY FIVE YEAR length, and I believed what you say until very recently. Many of my corporate clients are very well off, and I remain piss poor, yet they crunch me hard for any deal they can. My answer is no.

Many of my suppliers turn over tens of millions and continue to grow, while I get screwed for a harsher and harsher deal. Why ? Because I am weak.

There is no trust in business, only what you have been led to believe, for someone elses gain.

DB

[middleaged2wheeler]

Depends what type of business your your in I think ,as too the sense of fairplay and gentlemans rules that apply.
Years ago I was in the treetrimming business and very good at it--and the ACC levy went higher than an explosvies handler,in fact was the highest rate, and the cowboys got in on the act, then the customers wanted it cheaper and cheaper, and to charge what the job was worth became a nonsense in that undercutting, cost laden, enviroment. Who would climb a forty foot tree for shit.

[kickingzebra]

Opportunity, and what one does with it... Mine is beginning to grow at an alarming rate, and I have never screwed anyone (cept my wife, but she asked for it...)
I have most certainly been screwed, but as with anything, the whole game of business is about leverage. If you leverage your strengths, and put them out there well, then it will work.

[middleaged2wheeler]

maybe I should called myself a rose pruner, bullshitted every aspect of what i did--torched out all the cowboys in the area and beyond and had the customer base for myself---but hey i aint that type of person.--

[CookMySock]

maybe I should called myself a rose pruner, bullshitted every aspect of what i did--torched out all the cowboys in the area and beyond and had the customer base for myself---but hey i aint that type of person.--

Now you're starting to catch on. And thats the problem with business - soon you will be that type of person... or get out. Only the strong will remain.

It just makes us stronger though, and I guess thats about growing up. I'm starting to quite like it - its a challenge. Its like everything - if I knew it was going to be this hard, I wouldn't have done it.

edit: don't burn down the opposition though, you might hurt someone.

DB

[Big Dave]

I rest my case.

Indeed - I know for a fact that I'm doing a whole lot better than anyone I have ever worked with who said 'nice guys finish last'.

[middleaged2wheeler]

need to be in business type where cowboys can,t get--I can,t count the number of house painting companies I know about in the last decade that have gone under because cowboys ruin things ( and some crap management)--but electricians or plumbers who have to be registered -few i would say, because they compete between themselves and don,t do each other in-
COWBOYS might not last long term but do much damage before they crap out.

Serivce industry different ball game from importers and pen pushing types.

[middleaged2wheeler]

So that is the sterotype of today,s business person is it--tough, lean, mean-- i do tend to think that DANGERBASTARD has the bottomline because when push comes to shove and there is not enough in it for everyone (when ever line of business it is) and the players are facing hard times for them and their families--they,ll fight using their skills or FLIGHT depending on their make up.

[Coyote]

So when do we get together and bring back the guillotine?

[Swoop]

the govt sets the enviroment in which you operate.

Yes. A free trade deal with China is exactly what the labour force of NZ needed.

IN the 1960,s we had stockplies of wool, meat, grains AND stockplies were FROWNED on---these days they ar called statregic RESERVES in some countries especially food --and not considered silly at all. MY HOW ATTITUDES HAVE CHANGED.

We also had to stockpile.
You needed to order items months ahead of time, because the letter you posted to your supplier took time to arrive and the goods were shipped to you.
NZ has completely forgotten how to plan ahead. The "overnight delivery" from anywhere on the planet, has killed off this skill.

[middleaged2wheeler]

Just observing the GLADITORIAL modern style battles, some business people have to mindset themselves into---Uptopia hopes that MOST business people don,t have to reach that deep. HENCE the difference in coments on this thread--different lives for different people.

NO ONE REALLY KNOWS HOW STRONG THEY ARE until they are faced with such realities--like a lot a aspects of life---