I am an entrepreneur offering technical services for people. I used to work for a company but decided to stand on my own. I did all I could to build it up seriously, but I’m always disappointed as I constantly face failed and unfulfilled promises from potential customers.
I made advertisements to raise awareness but none of the promises have been fulfilled, and I don’t know what I can do anymore.
Is there a supplication from Sunnah which can help me secure jobs from potential customers? Thank you.
Answer
In this counseling answer:
• Seek a coach or mentor. Coaches help you identify and focus on what’s important, which helps to accelerate your success.
• Sometimes, it is necessary to be skeptical about people before you decide to trust them, and you may sometimes need to say ‘NO’.
• There are lots of business-related literature you can read, which can help you make the right decisions and steer you in the right direction.
• I strongly suggest that you wake up before Fajr, pray Tahajjud, supplicate to Allah in your own language.
Assalaamu Alaikum,
I am sorry to hear of the troubles that you are facing with your business clients. While businesses are a great way to make a profit, they can be troublesome when it comes to dealing with people.
In fact, dealing with people is the hardest part of running a business.
Seek A Coach/Mentor
Sometimes, it’s not easy to maneuver the obstacles encountered when trying to launch a business alone.
Do you know anyone in the community who is willing to offer some advice?
Are you able to seek someone locally who has successfully launched a business, albeit in a different field, who can offer you advice and help you find a direction?
Coaches help you identify and focus on what’s important, which helps to accelerate your success.
According to coaches.com, good coaches:
“Create a safe environment in which people see themselves more clearly; Identify gaps between where the client is and where the client needs or wants to be.”
Be A Judge; Assess Clients
You should really judge and try to assess people before you trust them.
Be cautious with new clients until you know them well and have successfully conducted business with them on a couple of occasions.
This will make running your business a happy experience for you as well as boosting extended healthy relationships with clients and building trust.
Not everyone will keep their promises. Sometimes, it is necessary to be skeptical about people before you decide to trust them, and you may sometimes need to say ‘NO’.
Some people do not consider saying no, as they believe they might lose out on the potential income, but in certain conditions, the loss comes from misjudging the client.
Taking this cautious approach from the beginning will save you from the disappointment that comes from the broken trust with clients who are not serious or unable to commit.
If you face confusion when it comes to deciding the type of clients you face or trusting them, please read the duaa’ of guidance after praying two voluntary (nafl) prayers.
Jabir Ibn Abdullah said,
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) used to teach his companions to perform the prayer of Istikhara for each and every matter just as he used to teach them the Suras from the Qur’an He used to say, “If anyone of you intends to do something, he should offer a two rak`at prayer other than the compulsory prayers, and after finishing it, he should say the supplication.” (Sahih Bukhari)
Essentially, the prayer will guide you towards what is right and will deter you from what is wrong.
This won’t be in the form of a dream or anything. What is right will become easy to pursue and what is wrong will be removed from your pathway, in shaa’ Allah.
However, when you are seeking Allah’s counsel, you mustn’t have a preference for one option or the other.
You must simply seek to attain what is sincerely better for you in this world and the afterlife.
Evaluate Your Business Action Plan
When running a business, you should evaluate the usefulness of all your activities to ensure obtaining optimal results.
When you are making new adverts and trying to get people to deliver, you need to focus on finding the right people.
Sometimes, you need to step out of your comfort zone and find people in-person, which means networking and meeting new people.
Don’t continue marketing activities that show minimal results, as marketing can be another major expense for a business.
It can certainly be worth it in some cases, but if you’ve tried a certain tactic that doesn’t seem to work, it’s probably best to cut the activity.
Also, when you observe that your ideas are not really yielding the results you desire, you need to reevaluate your business plan and make a new one.
Sometimes, problems can also arise when you focus too much on bringing in new customers that you neglect your current ones.
You can potentially make more profit by focusing on increasing sales to existing customers, as you already know that they can be trusted.
Supplications
Ask Allah, as He loves to be asked and always gives. Realize your neediness before Allah, and trust in Him, realizing:
“There is no movement or power except through Allah (La hawla wa la quwwata illa bi Allah).”
You may also recite the following supplication:
“O Allah! There is nothing easy except that which You make easy; and You make the difficult, if You wish, easy (Allahumma la sahla illa ma ja`altahu sahla wa anta taj`al ul-hazna idha shi’ta sahla).”
And Allah alone gives success. (Hadith of Day)
Surah Al-Fatiha
The greatest supplication that you can read for anything in life is Surah Al- Fatiha.
“Allah, the Glorious and Exalted said, “I have divided the prayer between Myself and my servant equally and My servant shall be granted what he asked for.”
Therefore, when the servant says, ‘All praises and thanks are due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds’, Allah says, ‘My servant has praised Me.’ When he says, ’The All-Merciful, the Most Merciful, ‘Allah says, ‘My servant has extolled Me.’
When he says, ‘Master of the Day of Judgment,’ Allah says, ‘My servant has glorified Me.’ When he says, ‘You Alone we worship and Your aid Alone do we seek,’ Allah says, ‘this is between Me and My servant and My servant shall have what he requested.’
When he says, ‘Guide us to the Straight Path, the Path of those whom You have favored, not [the path] of those who have earned [Your] anger, nor of those who have gone astray,’ Allah says, ‘this is for My servant and My servant shall have what he asked for.’ “(Muslim)
Wake Up Before Fajr
There are multiple benefits to waking up before Fajr. I strongly suggest that you wake up before Fajr, pray Tahajjud, supplicate to Allah in your own language.
Ask Allah all that your heart desires, and then work on your business and plan during the early hours of the morning.
Seek Motivation and Avoid Frustration
There are lots of business-related literature you can read, which can help you make the right decisions and steer you in the right direction.
Book 1: ‘Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t’ – by James C. Collins
A management book by Jim C. Collins describes how companies transition from being good companies to great companies, and how most companies fail to make the transition.
Book 2: ‘High-Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way’—by Brenden Burchard
A book about the most effective habits for reaching long-term success.
I have personally read the second book and would highly urge you to read it as well.
Not only will it open your mind to the changes you need to make to improve your business goals, but it will also help direct your mind towards making the most out of difficult situations, which are bound to happen.
I pray that you find the right customers for your business.
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