On Bijiness
More often than not, business in Romania is all about 'overpromise and under deliver'. Established 'players' and newcomers alike will stop at nothing in their race for higher profits, or, lately, survival: caught in a K1 style fight, most of them reduce business ethics to some sort of meaningless text-book quotes that they'll happily sell to some clueless journalist on his way to fame while the heavy punching goes on.
Few manage to slip under the radar - those who refuse to 'play the game' and choose to focus on providing value, sometimes at the cost of their own survival. "La Cata" restaurant is such a business - focused on building and providing value, it keeps putting maybe just a small smile on the face of anyone who happens to visit them. You gotta go there to understand what I'm talking about. It's special not because Cata does the right things but because it manages to do so for many years - here, in Romania. It's quite an achievement!
The big losers are not the ones who lose the fights. The whole (poisoned) business environment and the clients are losing. Investors and entrepreneurs give up - some go back to wherever they came from (YEAH! WE DON'T NEED YOUR STINKING IDEAS) or buy the first airplane ticket to wherever their new 'home' will be (CANCEL THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE NOW!). Some stay and try to quickly rebuild their sand castles before the next wave hits, in the hope that they'll have a better chance next time. Some hope to score a knock-out next time.
The winners learn that the way to success is defined only by the ability to deliver enough punches, fast enough. Destroy the competition and the clients will be yours, right?
Clients need to deal with the little that's offered to them - some learned that's OK to pay a lot just for the 'privilege' of being clients. Some do it cause they have to be 'cool'. Most clients don't know any better and began to believe that this is....normality. They expect to be used and abused. They're so scared and blinded by their fears that they wouldn't be able to tell a good deal from a bad one anymore. To them, all deals are fishy and all businesses are rotten.
With no one to protect them, clients must take matters in their own hands. They don't know how to choose and support the good businesses so they're stuck with the same ones but will seek to make their own justice.
Since they have not been shown respect, they believe no respect is due. Payback time! How? Easy!
Yup, eventually they hit something. Lack of respect is key here since there are no real bats:
The point is that clients ended up doing the very same things all businesses are suspected/accused of doing. And as long as it's 'right' for them, it's OK - after all, any Romanian knows that stealing from a business is not really theft; it's called "getting even" and it's some sort of patriotic duty.
As long as a business sees the bat, it's not going to wait for the hit. Not having customers is bad too so solutions must be found. The solutions usually revolve around 'creative ideas' to soften or dodge the blows and they invariably lead to higher costs (in)directly supported by the client.
Less isn't more. Less gets more expensive and there's little space left for sincerity. There's a nice little story my history teacher once told us about sincerity - shared here thanks to Wikipedia:
Whether you're a client or a business, stop this nonsense. Learn to respect yourself and others. Don't do bijiness. Be sincere. Don't sell wax. Pay for quality - don't try to get it for the same price wax sells for. Don't be evil.
Few manage to slip under the radar - those who refuse to 'play the game' and choose to focus on providing value, sometimes at the cost of their own survival. "La Cata" restaurant is such a business - focused on building and providing value, it keeps putting maybe just a small smile on the face of anyone who happens to visit them. You gotta go there to understand what I'm talking about. It's special not because Cata does the right things but because it manages to do so for many years - here, in Romania. It's quite an achievement!
The big losers are not the ones who lose the fights. The whole (poisoned) business environment and the clients are losing. Investors and entrepreneurs give up - some go back to wherever they came from (YEAH! WE DON'T NEED YOUR STINKING IDEAS) or buy the first airplane ticket to wherever their new 'home' will be (CANCEL THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE NOW!). Some stay and try to quickly rebuild their sand castles before the next wave hits, in the hope that they'll have a better chance next time. Some hope to score a knock-out next time.
The winners learn that the way to success is defined only by the ability to deliver enough punches, fast enough. Destroy the competition and the clients will be yours, right?
Clients need to deal with the little that's offered to them - some learned that's OK to pay a lot just for the 'privilege' of being clients. Some do it cause they have to be 'cool'. Most clients don't know any better and began to believe that this is....normality. They expect to be used and abused. They're so scared and blinded by their fears that they wouldn't be able to tell a good deal from a bad one anymore. To them, all deals are fishy and all businesses are rotten.
With no one to protect them, clients must take matters in their own hands. They don't know how to choose and support the good businesses so they're stuck with the same ones but will seek to make their own justice.
Since they have not been shown respect, they believe no respect is due. Payback time! How? Easy!
Yup, eventually they hit something. Lack of respect is key here since there are no real bats:
- Ask for and demand more than they can afford to pay for.
- Pay less (or never pay).
- Steal - doesn't even include the promise of payment.
- Break contracts (what are they for, anyway?).
The point is that clients ended up doing the very same things all businesses are suspected/accused of doing. And as long as it's 'right' for them, it's OK - after all, any Romanian knows that stealing from a business is not really theft; it's called "getting even" and it's some sort of patriotic duty.
As long as a business sees the bat, it's not going to wait for the hit. Not having customers is bad too so solutions must be found. The solutions usually revolve around 'creative ideas' to soften or dodge the blows and they invariably lead to higher costs (in)directly supported by the client.
Less isn't more. Less gets more expensive and there's little space left for sincerity. There's a nice little story my history teacher once told us about sincerity - shared here thanks to Wikipedia:
An often repeated folk etymology proposes that sincere is derived from the Latin sine = without, cera = wax. According to one popular explanation, dishonest sculptors in Rome or Greece would cover flaws in their work with wax to deceive the viewer; therefore, a sculpture "without wax" would mean honesty in its perfection
Whether you're a client or a business, stop this nonsense. Learn to respect yourself and others. Don't do bijiness. Be sincere. Don't sell wax. Pay for quality - don't try to get it for the same price wax sells for. Don't be evil.
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