Posts Tagged ‘Purchasing’
Many Happy Returns
I'm about to describe a mistake I've made plenty of times, and judging by the deals you can find on Craigslist.org and Ebay.com, there are plenty of other entrepreneurs making it too. First of all, when do we buy stuff for our business? The good philosophical answer is, It depends. The best answer I can offer is, Never- if you can possibly do without, then do without. I'm tempted to write, especially when we're getting started, but hey, if it's a principle at the beginning of a project, it will serve us well throughout the course of all our projects. Remember, we're in a beautiful time in history for micro-business owners and Self-Enterprisers; small is cool, independence rocks, and resourcefulness is respected. It is impressive to be viewed as not trying to impress. Even still, whatever times we live in, the principle of frugality remains solid. I've fallen many-a-time for temptation that's found me buying stuff I really didn't require. This is money that could have gone toward capitalizing on opportunity as it presents itself (check out Mark Cuban's blog on this topic, here). Hey, I know... it always seems like a good idea at the time. Through enough wasted expenditures, we (hopefully) learn that we need only what we require, and require only what we absolutely need (you can always tell if a statement is wise because it repeats itself in reverse order). Once you realize that your business requires something, how you buy that something is also important. You can almost always find better prices online. You can buy used, direct from China, through auctions, locally (Craigslist.org), etc. These "better deals" are sometimes just that. You get great products for great prices (side note: I don't buy from anyone with an approval rating below 98% on Ebay). Of course, cheaper is not always better. How long does the item need to serve you? If something goes wrong with the product (like, say... you discovered you didn't need it), the convenience of running into your local Wal-Mart, Costco, or BestBuy might be a definite plus. The extra $ spent could be seen as an insurance premium for the convenience factor. However, I've also found that buying stuff online acts as yet another litmus test as to whether I really NEED a product; am I willing to wait for it to be delivered? If not, it may be more of an emotional decision than a logical one. For me, Amazon.com is a good compromise between buying from rock-bottom online prices and the convenience of a local purchase. Their customer service has been good to me, typically easy to make returns if you need to, and free shipping on a lot of their stuff. It's a consistent way to shop online. To bring this message full-circle: Let's make certain that we're making purchases that are offset by the value we create for others - and not so we can feel cool or have the latest gadget. As a Self-Enterpriser, you're doing what you love. Recognize this and we see we''ll be [...]
