Honesty Is Not Just the Best Policy – It’s Also the Only Policy

I’ve now arrived back safe and sound in the UK after my travels, and whilst I enjoyed them tremendously, I can honestly say I’m absolutely delighted to be back home. ‘She Who Must…’ may have slightly different views of course… (I even got used to the creepy crawlies eventually whilst out there… helped by sleeping with my trusty can of RAID – industrial strength insect and arachnid killer!)And although I’ve spent the last three weeks over-indulging in virtually everything (especially the wine tasting…) I’ve still somehow managed to come back looking tanned and half a stone lighter, I swear my trousers are slipping down when I walk around! And on the whole my travels were very enjoyable indeed, although that degree of fondness dropped off when I reminisce about the encounters I had at NZ customs, (which was particularly interesting as the ‘limit’ is six bottles of wine and I was the proud owner of fifteen…) especially when there was talk of x-rays and prison for those caught ‘smuggling’ (a bit harsh I felt as we’d already paid duty on everything in Australia). As you might expect I decided to take the bull by the horns and address the situation up-front rather than take the chance of being ‘apprehended’.It transpired that my friend and I were the only pair of fine ‘upstanding citizens’ who made this choice and as we made our way into the ‘special declaration’ room, our fellow travellers looked at us as if we were not only ‘mad’ for being honest…. but also looked on with a fair degree of sympathy at the ‘fate’ they imagined awaited us…However, all was well as I explained our ‘professional’ interest in wine and the very nice man went off and talked to someone ‘higher up’ who said we were very good boys for ‘fessing up’ and we need not pay the duty either…;-)As we toddled off we observed some other ‘touristy types’ who thought they were being clever but were instead being carted off to explain (no doubt at great length) why their forms said ‘nothing to declare’ but x-rays had revealed their bags to be full of forbidden booty….Just like those ‘touristy types’, you’ll never build a lasting business by ‘trying to pull a fast one’ and being dishonest… Yes, some people have made a ‘fast buck’ with flashy websites and some empty promises, but ultimately they have been ‘found out’ in the end and are left with their business and their reputation in tatters…I had a student a year or two ago who did brilliantly, made a bundle of money and was moments away from being a proper bona-fide millionaire (I mean a real millionaire with actual 7 figures of cash in the bank, not somebody who tells you their house is now worth a million!)…then, the idiot decides to launch a scheme that was doomed to fail because it promised things he just couldn’t deliver.Today he is no longer in the business and goodness knows what he will do for a living next…had he of just been a bit more conservative with his promises and delivered what in fact would have been easy for him then he would now be a cash millionaire.Put simply – it is much, much, more important to gain a customer than it is to just merely make a one-off ‘sale’. You may have to wait a bit longer for the biggest rewards but at least you’ll get to keep them!!