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Your Businesses Reputation |
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Written by Admin
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Monday, 13 March 2006 |
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Page 2 of 3 Speaking badly about a competitor is not just in poor taste, but can be against
the law, too. Slander is a real offense recognized by the courts. If you think
it will help your restaurant to instigate a rumor about a neighboring café's
poor cleanliness, or if you purposely (and falsely) mention a competitor's
struggling financials to anyone who'll listen, you could be liable for causing
damage to another business's reputation (and it doesn't do much for yours,
either).
Laws affecting libel and slander are found in a state's business code under
Deceptive Trade Practices. Every state has a law on this, and though penalties
may differ from one state to the next, the context of the law is basically the
same: "disparaging the goods, services or business of someone else by false or
misleading representation," is prohibited.
Take advantage of the wealth of experience and business wisdom that exists
within your community or your industry. Burning bridges among competitors can do
nothing but harm to your business's reputation.
Repairing a Damaged Reputation Like a person's reputation, a business's
reputation develops over time. And, just as you can't improve your own 'name'
overnight, it takes a considerable amount of time to repair a business's poor
reputation.
Unfortunately, businesses with poor reputations do not often have the luxury of
time to fix things prior to a sale. If you're a business owner and you haven't
been paying bills on time, and haven't treated your customers or your employees
very well, you may have a hard time selling the shop without some carefully
planned renovations - to your business's image.
There are plenty of things you can do to improve the look of your business, but
changing the minds of the vendors, suppliers, lease owners, employees, and
customers takes time and effort. This means that when you come to the decision
to sell, you can't realistically expect to sell for a decent price within a few
weeks. You must prepare to sell by taking steps to improve fractured business
relationships.
Give yourself a year to begin paying bills and invoices on time and improve your
customer and employee relations. Twelve months of effort won't take your
business's reputation to the absolute top, but it will leave a positive
impression with the people you work with (vendors, etc.).
You've poured time, money, and effort into your business. When it comes time to
sell, you want to be able to get enough out of the sale to make your investment
worthwhile. Keeping your business's reputation in good standing is a must. If
you've suffered a blemish here or there, take the time necessary to repair
damaged relationships and improve your business's good name before you place it
on the market.
Failing to do so could represent a significant difference between what you
wanted to sell your business for and what any knowledgeable buyer will be
willing to pay.
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