On Christmas morning we went down to the beach at Muizenberg for a swim. The water was lovely and cool and enjoyable beyond measure. Afterwards, we all felt a bit peckish from the sun, sea and sand and went up to a small restaurant for some calamari, chips and coffee. The coffee was all right but the chips and calamari were nothing really to speak about. In fact, the calamari was tasteless. It was so easy to spot the fault with the calamari. It had been soaked in meat tenderiser to make it soft which had left the calamari tasteless.
Some time back during the year I had to buy a new camera because mine had unfortunately been stolen. The replacement camera didn’t come with a protective carrying case any more. You had to buy the carry case separately and it would be a whole involved process to order one and it would cost something in the region of R1,300. So I had to settle for a canvas no-name brand that makes it difficult to take out the camera and insert the camera back when you are not using it. So what once came standard with this camera is now no longer part of the deal.
An insurance company insisted that I send my car to a panel beater otherwise I would have to take full responsibility if I took it elsewhere. The panel beater didn’t order the necessary parts before it received my car which meant that it had to be in the workshop for a month. This resulted in me being forced to hire a car for a month. When the car came back from the panel beater workshop it had a host of problems. Basically, the panel beating work was shoddy. After much protest I was able to get a cash sum from the insurance company to pay for another panel beater to do the rework. Can you believe it? Because this insurance company wanted to save a few Rands on the panel beating, it ended up with them paying at least 40% more.
I ordered a book on a specialised subject from a well-known chain bookstores. The book eventually arrived from the US but the binding was of a poor quality. The spine of the book had been poorly glued onto the pages. This meant that the pages were at risk of falling out from the spine. After going through the hoops with this book chain I eventually received a replacement but after waiting several weeks.
All of these examples of poor product quality and pathetic service show just how important it is for the start-up founder or small business owner to ensure that their product or service quality is excellent. This can give you an edge in the marketplace of your choosing. With the general deterioration of product quality, re-calls on even motor vehicles and in one instance on bras, if you can ensure your promise of quality, you will be streets ahead of the mass producers.
I have tried my utmost to ensure the quality of my forthcoming book “Breakthrough Ideas”. It has been hand-made, well researched and tested and promises to provide and you with a hands-on, practical guide to coming up with new business ideas and turning them into a viable product or service. If this book does not meet your expectations of quality in any way, you can return it for 100%, no questions asked, refund.
