How to Become an Ethical Business

Apart from the quality of your products and services and your marketing strategy, one of your business aspects that will help it stand out is the ethics it operates itself on. A business can be providing consumers with quality products, but a news outlet releasing articles on their unethical practices can damage its reputation-most of the time permanently.

 

As you and your business swim through a sea full of competitors willing to subject their businesses to anything that will help them reach the top, it’s difficult not to succumb to the quick ways to success. But as a proper entrepreneur, you want your business to succeed but not in ways that can easily destroy everything you’ve worked all your life for.

 

In the competitive world of businesses, how can you make sure yours remain operating- while following ethical standards? Here’s how you can maintain your business ethics:

Be a business worth trusting

 

To consumers and investors alike, a trustworthy business is a business that is reliable when it comes to producing quality service and care for their consumers.

 

From the investor’s point of view, being a trustworthy business is at the company’s core. If you encounter experienced investors, you should be aware that they can sense a business’ trustworthiness through its management.

Most of the time, you’ll be in management. So, you’d want to be at your best self while you meet potential and current investors.

 

On the other hand, a trustworthy business is a business they rely on to be there for them to meet their needs to consumers. Meeting consumer needs go beyond selling the right products. You should also be able to address issues that arise in a professional and timely manner.

Open your mind to improvement

 

Even if you’re at the top of your game and doing better than all of your competitors based on analysis, you should still be open to ideas of improving your business operations further. It will help you accommodate your changing consumer base, and it will let your business age well.

 

Be open to ideas from your employees, investors, and consumers. They’re the ones who see your business from a different angle, and their opinions are worth listening to.

 

Opening a platform for your consumers to send feedback can also greatly aid your company’s growth. You would be receiving feedback directly from consumers and their experience with your service. This gives you the chance to directly tackle your business issues that are making your consumers happy or unhappy.

Meet your business obligations

 

Along with the money that you rake in as your business grows, you should also be aware that the responsibility you have towards yourself, your employees, the government, and your consumers remain. They may even grow bigger as your business grows.

 

The last thing you want is to get your business dragged into a lawsuit because you failed to meet your obligations as a business entity and an owner. A key to staying on top of your obligations as a business is to keep the right team of people to manage taxes, customer service, employee contracts, and many others.

Be clear about what you produce and promote

Granted, marketing campaigns are made to entice customers. That shouldn’t be a reason for you to pursue unethical ways of releasing marketing content. While you work on marketing strategies with your team, keep in mind that there are sensitivities you should be careful of.

 

An example of this is when you’re a company providing cadaver bags. Chances are, you’re doing well because of the pandemic, but you shouldn’t operate wishing ill on people in hopes that your business continues with its growth.

As much as the pandemic’s morbidity has benefited your business, you should still be operating with your morals and ethics intact.

 

Be respectful

 

In the world of business and outside of it, being respectful goes a long way. They say it’s something that people earn, but the truth is, you should be giving it to everyone around you. That includes your competitors.

 

If you’re doing better than them or vice versa, you shouldn’t resort to throwing jabs at them to make them look bad. Doing this makes your business’ brand appear disrespectful to consumers and other businesses.

 

The way you interact with your competitors will say a lot about your business. That’s why it’s essential to be as cautious as you can or limit interactions to prevent inflicting damage on both sides.

 

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Good luck!

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) https://www.accountingaccidentally.com/