1. Special Podcast for Newcomers
What factors cause us to fear seriously entering commerce, and what should be done to overcome these fears?
Download the podcast on fear of entering commerce
2. Special Article for Newcomers
A common slang term in business is "being a quitter," which is highly unstable. Arad Branding strives to prevent such individuals from entering business, and in this article, the characteristics of "quitters" are outlined.
3. Receiving Payment in Domestic and Export Markets
🕰️ 55 minutes
4. Sending Samples to Foreign Representatives
🕰️ 5 minutes
Form for utilizing the capacity of foreign offices
5. One of These Two Outcomes
In business, when you start doing the things that are taught to you in Arad and negotiate with customers according to the given instructions, one of these two outcomes will happen.
- The customer will pay you money.
- The customer will not pay you money.
Let’s momentarily put aside the world of trade and enter the world of workers, employees, and so on, and then return to business.
What is the result of the world of workers?
If you work as a laborer for twenty, thirty years, or until the end of your life, where will you end up?
If you say you don’t know what will happen at the end of your labor life, we say there’s no need to predict; just look at the fate of many workers who were there before you. See how they ended up in their old age, and you will realize that you will end up in a similar state.
The same goes for being an employee.
If you say you don’t know where investments such as the stock market, real estate, gold, dollars, cars, and cryptocurrencies will lead, we tell you that people in Iran have been following these paths for decades. All you need to do is ask yourself: have they become richer or poorer over time?
When will you believe that the profit from these investment markets in Iran is solely due to inflation and is just a game of bigger numbers?
You see your investment numbers going up, but inflation is also rising, and you fail to realize that those at the top of these investment markets, like professional casino owners, intoxicate you with their gambling. And since you have put all your wealth into gambling, they will eventually rob you.
Professional casino owners have a rule: when a newcomer enters the casino, they initially allow him to win a few rounds to make him intoxicated with the idea of easy money. As soon as he loses his sense of reasoning and puts all his capital into gambling, they hit him so hard that he can’t recover.
Have they not done the same with you people in all investments?
Did you forget the Padideh Shandiz (a major investment scandal)?
Did you forget the stock market?
Have you erased the pyramid schemes from your memory?
Did you forget companies like Kourosh, Laxsson, Rezayat Khodro Takestan, and hundreds of other investment projects that deceived people?
What was the result and outcome of these?
Which economic path in this country has borne fruit, and have its followers reached happiness and prosperity?
6. Let’s return to business
In business, you also negotiate, and one of these two outcomes will happen.
- The customer will pay you money.
- The customer will not pay you money.
Answer this question.
Do you want business to be like your permanent spouse, or like a temporary one?
Do you think in your mind that you will stay with trade forever, like a permanent marriage, or will you treat it like a temporary partner, spending only a short time with it, then taking the money you get from it and leaving to think about another job, separating yourself from business?
Most people who enter business with the mindset that it is like a temporary partner don’t engage in any real business. For your information, trade is like a very beautiful girl who has many suitors from the best and most virtuous men in the world, and she does not become a temporary partner.
She has so many admirers that if you truly view her as a permanent partner, with the boundaries and conditions she has, she will be willing to say "yes" to you.
So, if your perspective is that you are only looking at business temporarily, change your mindset and make it a permanent commitment.
Now, let’s look at the two outcomes again.
- The customer will pay you money.
- The customer will not pay you money.
7. We are waiting for one of two blessings.
God has promised one of two blessings to the believers who fought alongside the Prophet of God.
The first scenario is that they are victorious in battle, and naturally, in this case, they will receive the spoils of victory.
The trustworthy and sincere traders will be sheltered beneath the shade of God's Throne on the Day of Resurrection and will be gathered with the martyrs.
And God has expressed exactly the same for traders, repeatedly saying through His Prophet:
The trustworthy and truthful traders will be under the shade of God’s throne on the Day of Judgment and will be resurrected with the martyrs.
Or in another instance, the Prophet of God said:
Whoever draws others to the marketplace of the Muslims and leads them there is as though he is a warrior in the path of God.
Oh, dear soul who is negotiating with foreigners to bring them to the Muslim marketplace to buy Iranian products and, through this, save the factory from layoffs, surely, your intention is not just the money it brings for you but also the prosperity of employment in this country.
Certainly, in your heart, you feel joy knowing that several dozen or even hundreds of young Iranians will have jobs.
Certainly, you also care that in this factory, where products are sent abroad, several female heads of households are working, and if they lose this job, God forbid, they might fall into a path that God and His Prophet do not approve of.
Surely, you bear all this difficulty out of love for the people, hoping that your business will bring prosperity to their livelihoods.
I have read over a hundred comments from you esteemed individuals in the past year, in which you said, "I haven’t gained much profit from this particular trade, but I am happy that by selling this product, several workers have been able to put food on their tables."
God knows how much He loves this beautiful spirit of yours.
Let us not stray from our discussion.
There are two possible outcomes.
- The customer will pay you money.
- The customer will not pay you money.
God commands His Prophet to tell those who mock the believers who strive in His cause:
"Say: “Can you expect for us [any fate] other than one of two glorious things- [Martyrdom or victory]?
But we can expect for you either that Allah will send his punishment from Himself, or by our hands.
So wait [expectant]; we too will wait with you.”" Surah At-Tawbah, Verse 52
The fate of those who mock our pursuit of business is clear.
What will become of those who engage in jobs other than business, yet ridicule us traders?
The end result for them is nothing but hardship and difficulty, as we see that in this country, people are becoming poorer every day.
We are waiting for one of these two blessings.
The first blessing is that we sell our product and make a profit.
The second scenario is that the customer does not buy our product.
We, as traders, have made a pact with ourselves to stay in this path for the rest of our lives.
Thus, every failure to sell becomes a lesson for us.
And these experiences gather bit by bit, steadily shaping us into more professional traders with each passing day.
The experiencd ones can testify that many of these failures taught them valuable lessons. For example, they learned that a certain phrase or approach does not appeal to customers, so they avoid repeating it. These experiences have helped them master the "trick" of the trade, to the point where they now claim that, with God's grace, a certain percentage of customers will definitely make a purchase.
All these claims stem from the failures and lessons of the past.
It's like a marksman who is given the first three arrows as practice and they are not counted.
Now, imagine that you need to take your first thirty or even three hundred shots as practice.
In the end, sooner or later, this world of business will submit to you.
Psychologists have concluded that if 99.5% of girls who despise a boy are left alone with him for an extended period, their hatred will fade, and they will eventually fall in love with him.
If you are truly resolved to treat trade as your lifelong partner and consider any other jobs you currently hold as temporary, rest assured that one day, this very business will yield to you.
So, if the customer pays, you profit. If the customer doesn’t, it will become an experience that will help you learn and grow, so you don’t burn your future customers and instead, make a profit.
8. And a Promise Greater Than All Others
Yet, God has set forth a promise for all the setbacks believers encounter on the righteous path—a promise whose sweetness and delight soothe the bitterness of failures.
Have you truly embraced the belief that trade is the tradition of the Prophet of God?
Have you genuinely come to the conclusion that the blessings and prosperity business brings to Muslims are unmatched by any other profession?
Have you fully grasped how much joy your Imam Mahdi (PBUH) feels from your trade, both for the profit it brings you and the blessings it spreads among other Muslims?
When you succeed in selling, all your fatigue melts away. But when you do not sell, that fatigue settles upon your soul and your wealth.
However, did you know that even when you fail to sell, you still gain a new, special, VIP customer?
Do you know who that customer is?
Take a few moments to reflect.
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Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs [in return] is the garden [of Paradise]. Surah At-Tawbah, Verse 111
This raises a question: Which category of believers does God become a buyer for?
Does this verse refer to all believers, or does it address a specific group?
Immediately, God clarifies in the continuation of the verse:
"They fight in His cause, so they kill and are killed."
It refers specifically to those believers who struggle in God's path, engaging in combat—whether they overcome their enemies or are themselves overcome.
Here is where we understand the meaning of "one of the two excellences."
It refers to either of two outcomes: you succeed in persuading the customer and secure payment, or the customer rejects you and "kills" you—not in the sense of physical death, but by wounding your spirit and resolve.
God declares that as long as you strive in His path, whether you emerge victorious or face defeat, know this: "I am the first and ultimate buyer of your efforts, both in this world and the Hereafter."
9. Let Us Purify Our Intentions.
My dear ones, I have a request from you.
Now that God has promised to be our buyer under all circumstances, and surely, anyone for whom God becomes the buyer will never see their trade fail, let us purify our intentions in our businesses.
Let us say to ourselves: We engage in business to become wealthy.
And our intention behind becoming wealthy is:
- To increase the comfort and well-being of ourselves and our families.
- To extend a helping hand to the needy within our families and acquaintances, and to solve their problems.
- To go on pilgrimage (Hajj) if we haven’t yet done so, as it is an obligation for those who are wealthy.
- To create more employment for Muslims.
- To spread the practice of trade, which is the tradition of the Prophet of God, among the people.
- To make people understand that our Prophet was not a shepherd, but a merchant, and we should not tarnish the noble image of the Prophet and his family by portraying them as poor.
- To spend our wealth in ways that make our Imam happy.
And with our wealth, we intend to:
- Not spend on gatherings of vice and immorality.
- Not spend on alcohol and gambling.
- Not spend on drugs.
- Not harm the security of our country and Islam.
- Not cause pain to the heart of our Imam Mahdi (PBUH).
Let us purify our intentions, for God weighs and accepts deeds according to the purity of the intentions behind them.
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