ETHICS

Why This Question Matters

By Paul E. Casey

For the self-employed, the most important decision you will make is the people you surround yourself within your business.

This includes people you hire and clients that you pursue.

Are they honest and straightforward?

If they make a promise, do they keep it?

If they make a commitment, do they stick to it?

Pay close attention to how your clients and associates deal with people on a personal level. How do they treat a waiter at a restaurant?

My parents taught me ethics and integrity, just as their parents taught them the importance of honesty. I consider myself lucky to have grown up in a family environment where doing the right thing was considered to be the only option. If you are a person who has to think long and hard about the difference between right and wrong, then starting a business may not be the best thing for you.

Ethics is defined as: The rules and standards governing the conduct of members of a profession. Integrity is defined as: Strict personal honesty and independence.

The only part of life that you have absolute control over is your word. If you work for a large organization, you can sometimes hide from ethics. Under the company umbrella, you are not considered to be entirely “at fault” for the company’s unethical decisions.

(Do certain banks and financial institutions come to mind?)

You may have been one of several hundred unethical decision-makers. Even if you knew that the decisions you were making were wrong, you may have been in a position where you were forced to make those decisions or lose your job.

But when you are a self-employed business owner, you are 100 percent accountable for your own actions! The only finger you can point is at yourself!

There is a point in your life where you must decide if you are going to be up-front and honest with people, or if you will do anything to make a buck. Having a creed of ethics and integrity is a conscious mindset. Your goal should be to place ethics and integrity into your unconscious mindset, so that this creed becomes automatic.

I have made my share of mistakes in business, but I have always made a point of adhering to ethics and integrity. If a client overpays me by even just a dollar, my accountant is under strict instructions to return the money. If I give you my word, nothing will stop me from trying to fulfill that commitment. If I fail, I will apologize and take full responsibility for my shortcomings.

I can absolutely guarantee that is you are ethically-challenged, it will catch up with you at some point.

Bottom Line: Surrounding yourself with ethical people is money in the bank.

Click here to find out more about available resources on successfully sustaining your small business.

But when you are a self-employed business owner, you are 100 percent accountable for your own actions! The only finger you can point is at yourself!