Are you a value creator or value taker?

Share these new ideas
I enjoyed this old architecture while visiting Windhoek this year. Photo credit: Chesney Bradshaw. Copyright 2016. All rights strictly reserved.
I enjoyed this old architecture while visiting Windhoek this year. Photo credit: Chesney Bradshaw. Copyright 2016. All rights strictly reserved.

A family small business owner has been running a small business for several years now and it has continued to be successful. The staff who have been employed by the family business team have stayed with this business for years.

That tells you something, doesn’t it?

The staff are happy and deal with any one of them and you’d be delighted by their customer service.

Despite those who claim that small businesses take advantage of employees, this small family business has created jobs for community members.

It’s no small thing making payroll every month.

Making payroll every month, puts a small business owner in a league of responsibility for the livelihoods of others that value takers don’t possess.

I don’t want to go into much detail about value takers. I think we know who they are. They are basically individuals who take money from others hard earned efforts and rather than using it for social good and squander it for themselves. It’s a corrosive force in society that unfortunately will see no end and which future generations will pay heavily for.

I was delighted the other evening to hear that one of the members of this family business had been asked to go and run the operations of a larger business. All the skills and experience honed in the family small business are seen as valuable by the larger business.

It goes to show how valuable these is skills are of value creators. These are not the predominant entrepreneurial skills that are to be found in larger businesses, with exceptions, of course. These are the skills of small business owners who have worked hard, endured much, made payroll every month, managed their cash flow, continued to build their small business, and, most importantly, continue to create value for their customers.

You may wonder about taking one of the key business owners out of a small business and what will happen to that small business. I have too. But the other family members and the staff are competent and will continue to maintain and grow the small business. This is important. The small business has developed skills within its business to continue its successful operation.

Because people are valued, respected and developed in this small business, it will remain well run and competitive.

Leave a Reply