(ThySistas.com) Having your business taken advantage of doesn’t feel good, but the truth is you might not even notice that it’s happening. There are lots of small ways in which colleagues, suppliers and clients can take advantage of you if they see you as a soft touch, and that’s not what you want to happen when trying to run a successful business. Here are some of the ways in which you should respond to stop that from happening in the future.
Set Some Boundaries
First of all, you should set some boundaries and make it clear how you’re going to conduct business, as well as how you aren’t. When people are clear about how you want to work and what you expect from the people that you’re working with, you’ll find that people don’t push you or test your limits so much. It’s about being clear and without hesitation.
Don’t Stand for Unnecessary Stalling
When you’re dealing with suppliers or clients, it only takes one person to hold things up and to cause a situation in which your business is having its activities stalled. That’s obviously not what you want to happen, and you should be sure to stamp it out early on. If you find that suppliers, for example, can’t perform as efficiently as you need them to, simply replace them.
Chase the Money You’re Owed
If you find that businesses owe you money but are taking a long time to pay up, you’re probably going to find yourself short of cash. It’s not a very nice situation to be put in and it’s up to you to overcome it. The best way to do that is to hire a team offering commercial collections who can do it for you. It’ll send a clear message to clients that you’re not prepared to wait around.
When Handing Out Favors, Get Something in Return
When your business does a favor for another business, there’s nothing wrong with wanting something in return. Businesses create partnerships and help each other out all the time, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be a one-sided thing. Instead, it should be something that’s properly reciprocated. When that’s the case, everyone benefits in the long-term and that’s how it should be.
Learn to Deal with Conflict Smoothly
Dealing with conflict is a skill that’ll help you a lot in the world of business. And it’ll help you to overcome problems and prevent your business from being messed around without any explosive conflicts arising and causing you even more problems. It’s something that you should work on and get good at as soon as you possibly can because you’ll almost certainly put that skill to use.
Businesses get taken advantage of just as much as people, and it’s something that you should always be aware of. If you’re not, you could end up losing money, time and other vital resources that no business can afford to fritter away. So don’t let that happen to your business any longer.
Staff Writer; Mary Brown