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This is an excellent short list of important criteria that can be used to evaluate the quality of a business. If you are in business, make sure you are avoiding these six characteristics:
1. Knowingly Selling A Poor Quality Product Or Service
This almost goes without saying but I say “almost” because it still happens often! Commit to going the extra mile in terms of delivering quality and value. Even worse than this is knowing that a product is actually harmful or ineffective, but continuing to sell it anyway. History has shown this to be surprisingly prevalent, even at the highest level.
2. Excessive “Reputation Management”
This would mean for example creating fake reviews on social media, Amazon, Yelp etc. I have seen numerous Amazon sellers very clearly and obviously manipulating the review system by creating numerous fake profiles and leaving fake five star reviews. Why Amazon has not caught on to these is surprising, but at some point, they will – and the perpetrators’ entire deceptive house of cards will come tumbling down.
3. Lack Of Quality Control
This has probably happened to everyone who has purchased something online. Many times I have received goods that immediately revealed (from the condition they were in upon arrival) that they were never subjected to quality control. Lack of QC leads to a load of problems that can cause a business to fail. Returns cost money. Shipping costs money. Handling defective goods twice costs time and money. Disgruntled customers don’t turn into repeat customers, potentially costing a lot of money. Poor quality leaves a terrible impression and most of the time this is entirely avoidable.
4. Focusing On Getting People’s Money Over And Above Focusing On Creating Ultimate Value
A good business focuses first on solving problems and providing value. This is your goal and the money you receive from this should be seen as a “by product” of this success, rather than as the success itself.
5. Tyranny In The Work Place
Petty tyranny, bashing, shaming, favoritism, nepotism, dishonesty, “poison dripping”, bad attitude, negativity, sadism, abuse – these are not the qualities of the master entrepreneur. The good entrepreneur keeps it focused on success and doesn’t allow nagativity to sway them from clear direction in pursuit of the actual goal. Team leaders are quick to spot and negate these bad traits – both in themselves and in their team! There will always be a few individuals within an organization who are “bad news” and a good business flushes them out as quickly and effectively as possible.
6. Willful Ignorance / Not Caring
This, sadly, is contagious. If a worker sees another worker not caring and getting away with it, it tends to have a demotivating effect on others. You can tell when someone doesn’t really care – and it’s critical to weed out under-performers: Successful entrepreneurs recommend frequent ‘culling’. Poor workers cause problems for others down the line also, leading to increased costs, lower productivity and decreased profits. Note that different regions may have workplace laws regarding firing of workers and so you will need to follow these.
