Back in the days, when the only fast car was a black stallion and the only sushi was the gold fish in our living room, a business relationship was started with a handshake. A handshake concluded the contract, it said “we have a deal.” It also represented the start of a growing, fruitful relationship that included trust and said “I give you my word.”
However as time passed, and trust began to dissolve slowly, businesses started to evaluate risk more rather than just accept someone’s word. People were employed to determine whether the company could grant credit and, because companies that have consolidated industry information did not exist yet, the only reference available was a trade reference (given by the company requesting credit, and obviously the one reference that was always “paid on time”).
In a fast growing economic world, the trust that accompanied a handshake was replaced by detailed scrutiny. Awareness was created by evaluating, checking and establishing whether the relationship would turn into a long term business deal and a trade reference became like a bank code, applicable only for the second in which it was obtained.
Today the picture has changed once again and a credit check on a business is not enough anymore! To allow credit to evolve into a long term business relationship, it has become vital that the performance of business owners and directors, as well as the business activities, are monitored monthly. A business is only a legal entity and it is the shareholders, directors and employees who can make or break the business as they are the ones who pay, or don’t pay, the bills at the end of the month.
Nowadays, the black stallion is a luxury for only a few, sushi has become a staple food, a gold fish is a mere memory of our childhoods and a handshake represents nothing more than a “hello” or “goodbye” to strangers. Building meaningful business relationships, and measuring trust, has become more than just shaking someone’s hand, or accepting their word, and it is dependent on the credibility of both the company and the individuals within that company. This is why some business succeed and some do not.
