Using your authority for unconditional power

This blog post is submitted by Toni Lee.

Having someone over a barrel is never a great way to start the day. We deal with many different trades throughout Mandurah and Perth and we are constantly updated with our client’s woes. It breaks your heart when you hear this on a daily basis. It breaks your heart because I know how hard these guys are working and how much they are putting into their business, only to have it torn away from them.

I don’t mean physically, I am referring to mentally! Just to lay some foundation, when you are a small business owner, you are a husband, wife, brother, sister, mother, father…. You are not a CEO of a super large franchise that is turning over $300m per annum with a profit rate of 8% ($24m), nothing wrong with this CEO, however, this person would have had the help, guidance, and systems in place to grow into a larger company.

Small business owners make things up as they go along…. If a client calls them up and complains that something is wrong, they will be there in a heartbeat to fix the problem.

If these small businesses were turning over $300k that would be so amazing and to have a profit rate of 15% ($45k) would be a great feat in itself…!

Now you are probably thinking ‘pffft that small business would earn more than 15% profit!” Are you a small business owner? I highly doubt you are, because you would not ask that question, you would look at that question and think “yep, that sounds about right”.

What does this have to do with having someone over a barrel? I am hearing this day in/ day out of people who are using their ‘power’ to gain goods at a cost price…

Our customers are renovating entire properties below cost because if they don’t do this, they will lose all their incoming work.

For example, my name is Joanna, I am an employee of a local real estate agency and I give work orders to companies throughout the for damages, repairs, and services.

I now want my personal house renovated, I call upon all of the trades that I have sent work throughout the year and want them to either do the job for FREE or at a fraction of the price you would normally charge.

But that’s how things have always been done, right? WRONG!

It used to be ‘you scratch my back and I will scratch your back’

When a small business must physically have to pay for a product to install into your home, that is not scratching your back, that is bribery and misuse of loyalty.

These small businesses that are asking us for a discounted glass to install into these people’s homes on a daily basis, this just makes you shake your head with disappointment and sadness.

Why are they being bullied to do this time and time again? Why not show our support and support our small businesses? If you want a discount, why not ask for 5% off? Why not start off with a 10% discount and negotiate to 5%? You know the quality you are receiving, you know who you are dealing with!

Let’s support our small local businesses. We aren’t in it to make millions of dollars each year. We just love our craft and want to share it with you.