Shinning Your Business Star With Attention to Letters
Last updated on May 11th, 2024
We know business success is not happenstance. We also know success is not a random act. Far from it, it arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities. One of the vital tools of business is correspondence, especially, letter writing. However in a fast-paced world, rather than putting pen to paper, much of the writing is done by texts on various social media platforms and emails. It’s prudent for entrepreneurs to pay attention to the little secret that successful business executives have mastered over the ages.
The right word means satisfaction, success and money.
Carefully chosen words in well written business letters produce tremendous results. You may be writing with an objective to increase sales, improve employees and customer relations, suppliers or rather action from debtors. Nevertheless, the right word means satisfaction, success and money. On the other hand, poorly written letters can cost canceled orders, lost friendships and profits.
A successful entrepreneur ought to deliver proper correspondence with deep thought and care. There’s no room for careless grammar, misplaces wording, clichés or inelegant expression. So the skilled business letter writer is also required to weave style to the occasion while applying a critical understanding of a polished layout and formality in a great letter. Inevitably, style is what matters.
According to the 20th and 21st century celebrated American writer Gore Vidal, “Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.” A celebrated and successful writer himself, Vidal’s attention to writing effectively is relevant to ambitious entrepreneurs. For keen observers, Vidal’s secret of endearing the power of the message in words is let out in page 19 of his 1984 historical novel Lincoln. He writes the character Abe Lincoln’s conversation partly, “Words are hostages to fortune, they say. The only problem is we never know in advance just what the fortune is”.
Most importantly, the successful business letter writer ought to be aware of the legal implications of the written letter. You don’t want to be liable for defamation (libel and slander) and copyright claims. Essentially it is defamatory to publish anything about another person which would tend ‘to lower him in the eyes of right-thinking people’. As usual we are always on overdrive to highlight these vital legal consequences in our catch up article next week.
To this end, we hope that ambitious entrepreneurs shall invest their time, money and other resources to learn the art and craft of concise and stylistically appropriate letters that can propel their business to sustainable profitability.
This article is provided for general information and interest only; the opinions expressed and arguments employed herein are of the author and does not necessarily reflect the official views of Kubwa & Co Advocates. Be sure to seek specific legal advice on the subject matter. If you require any further information about the issues raised in this article please contact the author via +254728607818 or send an email to: kubwa@kubwaadvocates.com; or info@kubwaadvocates.com
Yuvenalis Kubwa is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a member of the Law Society of Kenya.
About Post Author
