A friend of mine recently sent me a news link about a certain restaurant with a rat problem in Chinatown (Spadina & Dundas St. W. area in Toronto, Canada) near a few favourite places of ours, Rol San, Swatow and Pho 88. My point is not to denounce this particular restaurant, but to point out that these days with the technology that is available to any 10yr old and above, such as cellphones with excellent camera and video capabilities… you, your employees and your business are always potentially being watched. You can make sure that is a good thing, or not.
Think of how fast a cellphone video of something negative can get sent to dozens of friends and how that can multiply to hundreds of people bouncing from sphere of influence to sphere of influence. What if a few dozen people who found out were avid bloggers, or involved with social media sites like Facebook or Twitter? How much damage can be done? The reach could be thousands within hours.
If you are in business, then you are in the public fishbowl for all to watch- like it or not. Why do you think there are different telemarketing laws for residential homes compared to businesses? When you set up shop, you are telling everyone that you are ready to be tested, to compete, to earn people’s hard earned cash to spend at your establishment instead of another competitor’s. These are the unspoken rules of the free market.
“Look at us! Look at us!” is the business owner’s battle cry.
How many times in your life did you try out a restaurant on a recommendation of a friend, or someone who was excited about the place? How many times did you avoid a place like the plague when people you know trashed it? Even if you didn’t believe it, you still didn’t take the chance did you? Bad news sells, doesn’t it?
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