In the early stages of business, a lot of your
‘
pay’ will be from what is called the Bartering
System. This is an old but still relevant and
necessary form of doing business. It falls in
the line of ‘One hand washes the other’. When
a company can’t pay cash or use credit to
make a purchase, they may offer
their
prod-
uct or service in exchange for
your
product or
service.
In doing this type of business, your
next business deal is only as good as your
last.
What does this mean?
Well, instead of
establishing credit like a bank account or a
major credit card, you now have to build up
your credibility: the quality of being believable
or worthy of trust. Having credibility is im-
portant because at the stage when you can’t
buy your way out of bad publicity or business
with cash, it’s your credibility that becomes
invaluable. Otherwise it may be too late.
No credibility stems from a poor histo-
ry with your vendors, associates and other
corporate affiliates. Word of mouth spreads
quickly. Especially if it’s posted on social sites
like Facebook or Twitter. In business, you will
find that an unhappy alliance can turn cold
Too Late
8
NOVEMBER 2012
WWW.TOMIMAGAZINE.COM
Tonisha L. Johnson
quick. Unhappy clients are all too happy to tell
everyone about you.
Condition yourself to approach every
relationship with good intensions because
what goes around comes around. And it
doesn’t come back the way you dished it out.
It’s funny, because in entertainment,
retaliation can be in the form of a song or a
diss track. You can read about it in a public, in
-
depth interview. Turn on the television and
watch your life unfold across the news screen.
Or you just may never get a call again. There
are many ways to annihilate a career.
Productive, viable relationships are es-
sential to any thriving business. Return calls.
Follow through. Follow up. Otherwise, it will
be too late.
PUBLISHER & EDITOR IN CHIEF
Twitter@anidemedia