Tao Zhu-Gong's 12 golden standards for wealth and 12 golden business standards, are perhaps the world's oldest business management principles over 3,000 years ago in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
Tao Zhu-Gong's 12 golden standards for wealth:
1. Be a good judge of character (know whom you can trust)
2. Be customer-oriented (customer is king, customer satisfaction first)
3. Be single-minded (be focused)
4. Be captivating in your sales promotion (be creative, imaginative, varied)
5. Be quick to respond (hesitation and procrastination mean lost opportunities)
6. Be vigilant in credit control (be good at collecting all debts/accounts)
7. Be selective to recruit only the best (match ability to assigned work)
8. Be bold in marketing your product (think of unconventional ways)
9. Be smart in product acquisition (be meticulous in stocking up)
10. Be adept in analyzing marketing opportunities (market research, timing)
11. Be a corporate model (personally follow your own company rules)
12. Be far-sighted in developing a total business plan.
Tao Zhu-Gong's 12 Golden Safeguards:
1. Don't be penny-pinching (invest in public relations and social concerns)
2. Don't be wishy- washy (be resolute and decisive)
3. Don't be ostentatious (don't forget Confucian virtue of frugality)
4. Don't be dishonest (avoid cheating, profiteering, unethical acts)
5. Don't be slow in debts collection (avoid bad debts to accumulate)
6. Don't slash prices arbitrarily (good pricing to meet sales margin)
7. Don't give in to herd instinct (avoid investing where everyone does)
8. Don't work against the business cycle (be sensitive to rise and fall of a product life)
9. Don't be a stick-in-the-mud (be open to new ideas, adapt to changes in the market)
10. Don't overbuy on credit (too much credit can cause cash flow problems)
11. Don't under-save -- keep reserve funds strong (cash allows buying at low prices)
12. Don't blindly endorse a product (be objective and sharp in judging product quality)
