PUNCTUALITY IS THE SOUL OF BUSINESS

PUNCTUALITY
Punctuality mean arriving or doing something at the expected or planned time.
Other meaning according to Free Dictionary by Farlex are:

1. Acting or arriving exactly at the time appointed; prompt.

2. Paid or accomplished at or by the appointed time.

3. Precise; exact.

4. Confined to or having the nature of a point in space.

5. Linguistics Of, related to, or being the verbal aspect that expresses momentary action or action considered as having no temporal duration.

One of the essential factors in business growth is punctuality.
Most of the Small Scale business owners are lacking in this essential area

My observation has proved that most of the small scale business owners like Business Support Centre, popularly called "Business Centre" where you can photocopy your documents, make phone call, type your documents and probably browse through internet does not open for business until around 9.00 a.m. in most cases, by this time almost everybody that   may need their services like  making copies of  credentials to attend an interview or other documents like contract documents, bill of quantities, (BOQ), etc would have gone. Therefore a serious Business Support Centre should have  opened for business from 6.00 - 6.30 a.m everyday except Sundays  (may be).  This is because those who may want to attend an interview, etc  need their services at that time. Customers should be able to predict the opening hour of a good Business Support Centre at a given time. This will not only retain the customer, but it could also make the customer refer others to them.  Therefore if your aim is to see your business grow, then begin to practice punctuality.  There is a popular adage that says "Punctuality is the soul of business" To keep your business alive and growing be punctual.

According to “The Act of Manliness” (Est. 2009) in their article “A Man Is Punctual” enumerate the Importance of Punctuality as follows:

 “The habit of being prompt once formed extends to everything — meeting friends, paying debts, going to church, reaching and leaving place of business, keeping promises, retiring at night and rising in the morning, going to the lecture and town-meeting, and, indeed, to every relation and act, however trivial it may seem to observers.” –William Makepeace Thayer, Tact and Grit, 1882

Here’s why.

“I have always been a quarter of an hour before my time, and it has made a man of me.” -Horatio, Lord Nelson

Being punctual strengthens and reveals your integrity. If you tell someone that you will meet them at a certain time, you have essentially made them a promise. And if you say you’ll be there at 8:00, and yet arrive at 8:15, you have essentially broken that promise. Being on time shows others that you are a man of your word.

Being punctual shows you are dependable. A man can always be found at his post, carrying out the duties needful for that time. People know they can rely on such a man – if he says he will be there, he’ll be there. But if a man is not punctual, others cannot depend on him — they do not know where he will be when they need him. His associates will begin to feel he cannot organize his own time, and these doubts will seep into matters beyond the clock, as it naturally raises the question: “If he is careless about time, what else is he careless about?”

Benjamin Franklin once said to an employee who was always late, but always ready with an excuse:  “I have generally found that the man who is good at an excuse is good for nothing else.”

Being punctual builds your self-confidence. Showing up on time not only tells other people you are dependable, it teaches you that you can depend on yourself. The more you keep the promises you make, the more your self-confidence will grow. And the more you gain in self-mastery, the less you will be at the mercy of your compulsions and habits, and the more in control of your life you will feel.

Being punctual assures you’re at your best. After riding someone’s bumper, speeding like a maniac, scanning for cops, and cursing at red lights, it’s hard to then turn your focus to making a presentation at a meeting or charming a date – you’re shaky and depleted from the adrenaline and stress. But when you show up on time, better yet a little early, you have a few minutes to collect your thoughts, review your materials, and get your game face on.

“Soldiers should be minutemen. Punctuality is one of the most valuable habits a soldier can possess.” –Christopher Columbus Andrews, Hints to Company Officers on Their Military Duties, 1863

Being punctual builds and reveals your discipline. The punctual man shows that he can organize his time, that he pays attention to details, and that he can put aside this to do that – he can set aside a pleasure to take care of business.

“’There is great dignity in being waited for,’ said one who was in this habit, and who had not much of which he need be vain, unless it was this want of promptness.” –John Todd, The Students Manual, 1854

Being punctual shows your humility. That bumper sticker maxim: “Always late, but worth the wait” shows that tardiness and an overestimation of one’s worth sometimes go hand in hand. People will be glad to see you when you arrive, but they would have been gladder still had you come on time.

Being punctual shows your respect for others. Being late is a selfish act, for it puts your needs above another’s. You want an extra minute to do what you’d like, but in gaining that minute for yourself, you take a minute from another, which is why….

Being late is a form of stealing. That’s a tough truth, but it’s a truth nonetheless. When you make others wait for you, you rob minutes from them that they’ll never get back. Time they could have turned into money, or simply used for the things important to them. In coming to meet you at the agreed upon hour, they may have made sacrifices – woken up early, cut short their workout, told their kid they couldn’t read a story together – and your lateness negates those sacrifices. If you wouldn’t think of taking ten dollars from another man’s wallet, you shouldn’t think of stealing ten minutes from him either. Being punctual shows you value time yourself, and thus wouldn’t think of depriving others of this precious, but limited resource.

“It has been said that time is money. That proverb understates the case. Time is a great deal more than money. If you have time you can obtain money—usually. But though you have the wealth of a cloak-room attendant at the Carlton Hotel, you cannot buy yourself a minute more time than I have, or the cat by the fire has.” –Arnold Bennett, How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day, 1910