Can You Really Make an Honest Living on the Net?
I was thinking about business the other night, which is not a
surprise, since I think about business all the time! However, I
was remembering my Dad telling me about starting his business.
He decided to go into the automotive parts business right after
the war. He decided on this particular type of business because
it was right after the Depression. No one could afford to buy
new cars then and they needed parts to fix the ones they had.
Seeing a need and the fact that there was no parts store in his
town, he thought this would be the perfect time to try it.
He worked many, many hours every day. It was hard to get the
parts, too, so he had to make friends with the companies' parts
salesmen and work his way on their supply lists.
He also had to go to mechanics and let them know he was in the
automotive parts business and tell them he would give them good
service and good deals if they would buy parts from him. They
would call him at 4 in the morning to get 2 spark plugs and he
would get up and go down to the store just to sell them the
spark plugs, hoping they would appreciate the extra service and
come back the next time they wanted something. He did this for
years. I remember many nights when the phone would ring and I
would hear my Dad leaving to go to the store.
Did he make it into a successful business? You bet he did! His
business grew so much that he outgrew the building he was
renting and bought property and built his own store. He also
added a service shop and hired 4 excellent mechanics to service
cars and trucks. And he added an automotive paint center where
he mixed and sold paint for cars and trucks.
And through it all, he kept his integrity and honesty. He one
time drove 50 miles to give a man $10, because he overpaid for a
part. People knew to go to him if they wanted a fair deal. They
also knew that if they bought a part from him and it didn't
perform like it was supposed to, he'd take it back and refund
their money even if the factory wouldn't let him send it back.
The customer was number ONE.
That's what it's all about. That's what YOU need to do to be
successful. You need to be able to make YOUR customers number
ONE. You need to treat them the way you would want them to treat
you if you were the customer. You need to answer their emails.
You need to be available to them. They need to know that they
are dealing with an honest person who will be there for them to
answer their questions and help them. If you aren't willing to
do this, you shouldn't be in business.
By the way, in case you are wondering, it took my Dad a good 2
years to build his business into a profit-making one. Because of
the size of the Internet, I built LotsaPerks into a
profit-making business in 9 months. But all the truths that made
my Dad's business work still hold true on the Internet. It's all
about repeat customers. Repeat customers are satisfied
customers. They will recommend your business to their friends
and business acquaintances. I have many repeat customers,
because they know I will stand with them and help them as much
as is possible. They know I will give them at least as much as
they order. They also know they can depend on me to follow
through for them.
It IS possible to make a honest living on the Internet. Now that
you know that, you can do it too!