I had seen a lot of movies on Human Relations in the last few months. This blogpost was motivated by that. I wanted to share with you, my experiences in the last couple of years.
Sciensation was started in 2011, while I was still a 2nd yr undergraduate student. However I had an idea about event management, printing etc as I had worked for a few college activities. Working for own banner was a different ball game altogether. I had pitch myself , the brand and only then would I garner essential collaborations.
Most people mistake business relationship to be negotiations and bargaining. It is very important to maintain long term relationship with your suppliers. The product or service which you are offering, is influenced by the supplier. You need to have a good rappo with the supplier. It is not just the pricing but quality, flexibilty and speed of delivery which matters. Someone who understands your style of working will be able to add to the product. In short you need to realize that your supplier knows his bit better and can help improving the product, if he understand your product concept properly.
If you had conceived a new production, its your "baby" for a good amount of time and others can't read your mind. So, its important to have good descriptions, diagrams and analogies for those who need the details. Agreed that you would like to keep details confidential, but you should have this info with you. Only the relevant details would reach every supplier. It takes some effort to explain your concept and so you may want to maintain one supplier and do good business with him.
In business, the biggest of enemies is uncertainities. I often exclaim "Certainty is the most expensive product in the market, if available!". Errors can occur from your side or the supplier's side and that might slash your profit or even worse take you into losses. Most companies estimate this well and price their accordingly. However, starters have issues with at as they need to market products at low prices to compete in the market. It is important to make sure that such things don't affect your relationship with the supplier. I had once faced such an issue. The error was clearly on the side of the supplier and he offered to re-produce the product. I had decided to pay and collect, Sciensation took the blame. He has impressed with our commitment and had reduced the prices. He always provides best prices and a few complimentary services too.
There is a comedy scene in a movie called Businessman(releasing in Hindi with Abhishek as the lead). Mahesh Babu does service for free and when offered payment, he says "I did coz I love you. Do I look like a goon. Treat me like a girl friend, you know na what to give girl frends. Bank Balance, Bunglaw etc". It is funny but it is closely related to what we call opening relationship. You don't always try to level the cash/barter on a balance. At times, you may not be able to get much. But the relationship which you are building is going to be important. You need to note that most probably both of you would operate at different scales eventually and it wont be amongst equals. Like in close friends, you don't keep accounts but they get balanced kinda.
There is a saying that market is to blind to everything except money and wealth. It is true, but I have believed that you would enjoy doing business if you are friends with your staff, suppliers and customers. Great brands have always taken efforts to ensure the relationship is good. The legendary Dr C.K.Prahlad had said "Employees First, Customer Second", you can deliver only if backed by excellent crew. Steve Jobs said its the R&D Dollars which matter but the innovation and the people, for IBM had 100times higher budget than Apple. Quite unorganized, but I hope I have conveyed what I had in my mind.
Sciensation was started in 2011, while I was still a 2nd yr undergraduate student. However I had an idea about event management, printing etc as I had worked for a few college activities. Working for own banner was a different ball game altogether. I had pitch myself , the brand and only then would I garner essential collaborations.
Most people mistake business relationship to be negotiations and bargaining. It is very important to maintain long term relationship with your suppliers. The product or service which you are offering, is influenced by the supplier. You need to have a good rappo with the supplier. It is not just the pricing but quality, flexibilty and speed of delivery which matters. Someone who understands your style of working will be able to add to the product. In short you need to realize that your supplier knows his bit better and can help improving the product, if he understand your product concept properly.
If you had conceived a new production, its your "baby" for a good amount of time and others can't read your mind. So, its important to have good descriptions, diagrams and analogies for those who need the details. Agreed that you would like to keep details confidential, but you should have this info with you. Only the relevant details would reach every supplier. It takes some effort to explain your concept and so you may want to maintain one supplier and do good business with him.
In business, the biggest of enemies is uncertainities. I often exclaim "Certainty is the most expensive product in the market, if available!". Errors can occur from your side or the supplier's side and that might slash your profit or even worse take you into losses. Most companies estimate this well and price their accordingly. However, starters have issues with at as they need to market products at low prices to compete in the market. It is important to make sure that such things don't affect your relationship with the supplier. I had once faced such an issue. The error was clearly on the side of the supplier and he offered to re-produce the product. I had decided to pay and collect, Sciensation took the blame. He has impressed with our commitment and had reduced the prices. He always provides best prices and a few complimentary services too.
There is a comedy scene in a movie called Businessman(releasing in Hindi with Abhishek as the lead). Mahesh Babu does service for free and when offered payment, he says "I did coz I love you. Do I look like a goon. Treat me like a girl friend, you know na what to give girl frends. Bank Balance, Bunglaw etc". It is funny but it is closely related to what we call opening relationship. You don't always try to level the cash/barter on a balance. At times, you may not be able to get much. But the relationship which you are building is going to be important. You need to note that most probably both of you would operate at different scales eventually and it wont be amongst equals. Like in close friends, you don't keep accounts but they get balanced kinda.
There is a saying that market is to blind to everything except money and wealth. It is true, but I have believed that you would enjoy doing business if you are friends with your staff, suppliers and customers. Great brands have always taken efforts to ensure the relationship is good. The legendary Dr C.K.Prahlad had said "Employees First, Customer Second", you can deliver only if backed by excellent crew. Steve Jobs said its the R&D Dollars which matter but the innovation and the people, for IBM had 100times higher budget than Apple. Quite unorganized, but I hope I have conveyed what I had in my mind.
way too go tarun ALL THE BEST :)
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