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Keep Your Promises – The Namibian


IT IS STILL early days, but if this is the service delivery norm of the government’s newly established Namibia Revenue Agency (Namra), then we as taxpayers have every reason to smile.

I owe the founding commissioner, Sam Shivute, and Namra officials an apology.

Two weeks ago, Namra informed me that I am due for a tax refund, and I am embarrassed to admit my response was dismissive.

Blow me down – the refund was deposited into my bank account yesterday.

So, my apologies to the taxman, Sam Shivute, for doubting that Namra is a public institution which honours its pledges and promises.

Taxpayers will be assisted, guided, and treated professionally and fairly, provided taxes are paid on time, every time.

And that is what successful entrepreneurs and enterprises, small or big, do all the time – they keep promises.

Making promises is part of life, and of business too.

As an example, we promise to love and respect the person we choose to be our life partner, and to care for, feed, clothe and educate children born out of that union.

We also promise to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, to exercise good neighbourliness, including when we are behind the steering wheel of a vehicle.

As entrepreneurs we routinely make promises – to deliver an order on time, to provide top-quality service, and to make amends if things go wrong or if a product fails.

Well-run businesses provide a written guarantee as a pledge to replace faulty products without fuss or bother.

But we have all experienced empty promises, haven’t we? A promise that was made but not carried out, and resultantly it was meaningless.

Hopefully we ourselves are not in the habit of doing so.

Entrepreneurs soon discover the consequences of not keeping a promise, such as not repaying a supplier which extended a credit line in good faith, or a bank loan, not executing an order by the promised delivery date, or supplying poor goods or services.

There will be no repeat business. Customers won’t return, they would rather take their business elsewhere.

A dissatisfied customer will badmouth a business, and the firm will lose potential new business.

There are two types of promises: We voluntarily offer to do something, or we agree to a request to act or respond in a certain manner.

As for the first type, we promise to deliver or pay on time, within an agreed time frame.

The second type of promise is when the bank or suppliers and customers have requirements with delivery time frames set and agreed upon.

Or we pledge to repay a loan or settle a supplier’s account within an agreed period. Or we agree to deliver goods or services by a certain date.

Promises are easily made, but they should be difficult to break.

It is better to decline a deal or to negotiate and agree on something that can be done more realistically.

A firm’s ability to keep its promises is directly linked to its name and reputation.

The inability to come true on promises harms a business beyond belief.

In short, if you can’t keep your promises, refrain from making them.

* Reach Danny Meyer at [email protected]





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