Shareholder/owner/director

Being a shareholder, or owner ,or director of any company means possessing an official shareholder, ownership or directorship certificate issued by the Registrar of Companies based at the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO). The importance of these certificates is that they authorize you to act on behalf of or protect both your interests and those of the company. The same goes with your resignation or withdrawal as a shareholder, owner or director of a company, in that a resignation application form has to be lodged with the Registrar of Companies and an official confirmation has to be issued.

The importance of image

The old adage that first impression lasts longer is very appropriate, in this case in that one needs to always present a professional image at all times if you want to gain both the trust and support from your customers and peers. Simply being neatly dressed and displaying professional conduct are what matter most. For example, wearing a hat or being dressed too casually when attending a business meeting is a cardinal sin. One of the mistakes often made during a meeting with customers or business partners is dwelling too much on irrelevant issues instead of getting to the main issues at hand. The reason is that, unlike personal relationships, business relationships are usually at arms length during the early days of meeting each other but thereafter can develop into a personal one over a certain period.

Beware of business scams

With high unemployment in our country, we are now faced with a growing number of fly-by-night business people who are out to make a quick buck and then swiftly disappear from the scene. They use every trick in the book to milk your hard-earned income from you. Then how do you pick up whether this is a scam or not? The common features of a scam is that their sellers are either in a hurry to get the deal through by pretending that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, laced with an unbelievably high returns or gains, and you have to grab it quickly before you lose it. Investing in such dodgy deals can lead to very painful consequences that could negatively affect your smooth-running business if you are not careful enough. It is for these reasons that you need to know exactly what is possible and what is not. And if you are not sure, ask acknowledged experts in the various fields of trade and commerce. Their reputation is usually above board. In fact, both private sector and government have set up right across our country offices that deal with the various issues relating to business.

Knowledge of your products and industry

How do you expect a stranger to buy your products and services when you hardly know what you are selling? The basic principle of selling is that what usually attracts a client to your products and services starts with how you present yourself both as an ordinary person and a business person. Only when you are comfortable and honest in answering questions that relate to your products and services will your potential customer be interested in buying them. Also always keep in contact with industry-wide developments as they can sharpen your mind in knowing what is in or going out of fashion. The most appropriate example is Information Technology, where technology changes at a breakneck speed and if you are left behind it becomes too difficult to recover.

Staff training and motivation

Much as you can present yourself as both competent and professional all your efforts will come to naught if your backroom support group is not similar to you in terms of providing an excellent after care services to your customers. It is therefore very important to treat your staff fairly, and recognize and reward them appropriately for excellent service that they are performing. For them to be able to do so you need to offer them both technical and relationship building training programmes. Technical training deals with product knowledge whilst relationship building training deals with developing their people oriented skills. Another symbolic way of motivating your staff to perform excellently is leading by example – by practicing what you preach.

Always conduct an all round auditing

Without being scared by the term auditing, what is meant is that you need to set aside some time during the year to formally review, challenge and where necessary to change all the procedures and processes that your entire business operations follow. This gives you an opportunity to make sure whether you are still on the right track or, as they put it, merely “ eating soup without with a fork” – that is working too hard and yet not reaping any rewards for your efforts. When you critically assess what you have been doing and also ask for some clinically cold facts the answers are bound to come out in terms of the progress or regress that your company is undergoing. It must also be borne in mind that business practices review is also an ongoing activity depending on how simple and complex are your operations.

Knowledge and wisdom are power

Only by appreciating the fact that as the owner and manager of your company you are also mainly responsible for both its success or failure can you understand the importance of being knowledgeable and wise whenever conducting your business affairs. This comes about by learning from the best, by attending formal business training programmes and networking sessions where people of your similar interest come to meet each other. Of course, merely attending these sessions for the sake of doing it will not be valuable at all. In fact, the selection and attendance should be based on their relevance in assisting you to accomplish both your business and personal objectives. For example, attending a seminar addressed by Raymond Ackerman would be ideal as the man is both a seasoned entrepreneur and retailer who knows and has performed the tasks on how to grow and develop an ant to become a proverbial commercial elephant.

Whilst this is just a scratch in the surface in addressing key success factors for your business, you need to also do your own personal development by way of learning, observing, practising and improvising your business procedures and processes to achieve maximum results.