What is more valuable than Money in Business?

I had an acquaintance who almost became my business partner. Fate would have it that our business venture would not push through because of a prior deal that showcased his true nature to me.

It all started when he sold an item to me. I knew that money was a bit tight for him at that time so even though I thought it was a bad deal, I decided to part with my own finances in the guise of helping him out.

Later on I found out that the previous seller changed the product and left the damaged product with him which he then sold to me. Meaning, not only did he earn from me, but he also got his money back because of the faulty product.

So did I consider it a loss on my part?, well I did lose money, but the important thing was that I staved off a disaster by not entering into a business with him.

Maybe one reason why I got inspired to write this post was because I met up with him last week and our conversation had turned to his business partnerships. To which he said that they had all ended. He was lucky enough that some of his partners bought him out. Of course since I didn’t really trust him anymore, I stopped believing on the part that his partners had bought him out, because I had heard that some of them kicked him out.

People always say that in business money is money and personal feelings should not get in the way of putting food on the table. There was a time when I used to agree with that, but then I realized that there were things more valuable than money in this world that every aspiring entrepreneur should look out for.

Other Things that are more Valuable than Money in Business

Respect - that friend of mine sacrificed our friendship for the purpose of earning a buck, with that, he lost my respect for him. Whenever you lose trust with somebody, chances are your access to him and his resources won’t be so easy.

For instance, if you needed a loan or a buyer for your product, he’d probably ask you to go the more formal way of making a pitch than with something that can be settled by a cup of coffee and a handshake. Asking favors will also be difficult because why would you help somebody who you know could easily stab you in the back.

When customers respect you and know you for being honest, they know that what they are buying from you is good enough on merit of your word alone.

Customers can also be more forgiving of you when you make mistakes. A businessman once told me that a customer found a ballpen in some processed food that they were selling. The loyal customer just pointed out the mistake to them and called it an honest mistake. If the guy hated them he’d had taken it to the press, who would make a big issue out of it.

How do you gain respect? well by keeping a good reputation and by learning to return respect on your part to other people.

Idea - you might have the money to invest in a business. But if you don’t know what to invest it in you could do yourself a better favor by just keeping the money in the bank. Otherwise you’d just end up loosing it all.

I learned this from a friend who was working abroad. He had saved up a lot of money but he said that he didn’t know what to invest it in. So he said that he would rather work till retirement than take the chance at starting a business, by then he could live off of his pension.

Of course, because of the financial crisis, wherein a lot or retirement funds fell victim to the bad investment vehicles. Made us realize that retirement funds aren’t a sure thing after all.

Not that I’m saying that working till retirement is a bad thing. But if your dream is to start your own business and be your own boss, working in a company till retirement might not be a good idea for you.

Loyalty - you could have a lot of friends, business acquaintances and employee’s. But could you really count which ones are loyal to you? There is a benefit in having loyal people around you, because these people are trustful enough that they won’t try to cheat you, steal from you or spread gossip about you that can ruin your reputation.

That’s why they also say that a loyal people are worth more than their weight in gold.

Persistence - There are a lot of times that you might fail in life and in business. But the strength to pick yourself up from every setback and try again is indeed a valuable trait to have.

Health - health is wealth so they say. Guard your health at all times because you only have one body and not all diseases have cures for them. Work yourself too hard and you could be in and out the hospital all the time.

Your hard earned money will just end up paying for medicines and doctors (unless of course you have a socialized medical system in your country).

Work yourself too hard and you could end up kicking the bucket soon.

Time - didn’t somebody say once that you can make more money but you can’t make more time? You only have one life in this world so you better make the most out of it by learning to prioritize what matters most.

If you however were able to build a time machine, now wouldn’t that be really a valuable invention?

Relationships - There is a saying that knowing the right people in this world could help you advance faster in life. True, because they open doors that might have been closed for you.

A friend once told me that the animal feed industry was a good business to enter into because his friend was raking in millions supplying to a local piggery. I was doubtful of course considering that this was a small guy going up against well established feed suppliers. Wanting to find out what his edge was, I asked him if his friend knew anybody at the company, to which he said that his uncle was a manager at the piggery. Here is the part that you realize that the business was a good business to enter into because the guy knew somebody inside with authority to decide who the feed supplier will be.

Relationships could also mean family relationships. I’ve seen a lot of family corporations ground to a halt because of family infighting. I have a feeling that this is because people have a tendency to think that since they’re related, they are afforded much leeway and that there is an obligation to them by the other family members. That’s why I’ve seen the longer lasting family corporations put a premium in building good relationships with one another. Otherwise they just end up making their lawyer’s rich.

So how do you build relationships?, by building a reputation of being a trustful person and in turn being respectful of the other person.

In Parting

From the list above, we could conclude that Money isn’t the only thing valuable in business that one should look out for. Because it’s so easy to make money if one leaves his morals at the door. The problem with that attitude is that it might make you a pile of dough, but you end up making enemies that will make your path to financial freedom treacherous.