BUISNESS PRACTICE

Warranties
When you buy a product e.g. an outboard it may come with a description of what it will do for how long but in the fine print it might say you have to run the engine on non synthetic oil and stay under 5000 revs and to flush it out for 7 minutes minimum. it is important to read all of the small print because a warrant is a legal document that assures you that it is going to work properly.

Guaranties
a guarantee is what the name is - if you buy a new part or have a new part installed professionally, the workmanship and life of the part being installed is usually guaranteed, so if the new part were to fail you wouldn't be expected to pay unless you did something against what the legal warranty said.

Quotations and estimates
A quotation is an agreement between both parties of what the job will cost this can be a range from x to y  but if the final price exceeds this you may be facing legal charges.
An estimate is a rough guess of how much you think the job will cost, this is not a legal bond like a quote so it is important that you make yourself clear to the customer what you are giving them so there is no grey areas.

Charge out rates
when deciding on a charge out rate it is important to take into account your overheads, employers and yourself. All those into consideration a $60 per hour charge out rate is not so steep.

Courtesy arrangements
these can be anything from cleaning the inside and outside of the car, checking tyre pressures, cleaning the inside if headlights, giving the customer a ride home (if local) and even offering a temporary car whilst theirs is getting fixed. All are done to keep the business turning over and money coming in.

Cultural issues
Because the world today is not split into races and cultures it is important to accomodate for difficulties, these  refer to expectations, Practises, Communication issues e.g. being clear on the phone etc.