Steve Marr Business Proverbs

In today’s environment, many businesspeople face tremendous cost challenges. Increasing commodity prices, transportation, pressure to increase staff wages, and surging gasoline prices are creating a lot of pressure.

As a result, many businesspeople are raising prices on their customers. The prophet Amos accused some people of wanting “to make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger” (Amos 8:5 NASB).

I recently purchased a product and noticed that the price had gone up while the size of the container had gotten smaller! We, as consumers, often feel we are getting less, while paying more. As businesspeople, we need to live with the reality of increasing costs while understanding our customers’ perspective.

Customers are concerned with value, not your cost. This places us in a dilemma: how do we deal with our rising costs without losing our customers?

One of the most difficult decisions a business leader must make is what to do when you hit that proverbial stonewall. Do we pound on the wall until we breakthrough, or do we quit?

Jesus said, “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down’” (Luke 13:7-9 NASB).