Living Entrepreneurship Blog / Babson Entrepreneurs

From The Wise Words Of A Friend

When building a business, you have to consider your own personal integrity and that of your business. You can’t go running around treading the fine line of ethics hoping to undercut others and do questionable things that can compromise your image and your business’ image.

A good friend, the US CEO of a custom chocolate bar company, recently expressed to me how important ethics were in business and how she makes a point to ensure that strong ethics are held in her business and that her competitors are doing the same. Otherwise things just get very messy if one party decides to play unfair because the other party would be tempted to play dirtier, and then no one really wins in the end. There would be temporary gains, but long-term losses because you are not actually genuinely doing anything valuable for your business or for your customers and followers.

While our product isn’t ethical in the sense that are use only recycled and organic materials, we do pay higher than market rate to ensure our tailors are better provided for, and that they are ensured great working conditions. The results are great because we great some really quality dress shirts that are appropriate for summer, winter, fall and spring!

The other business I mentioned provides an ethical, fair-trade product, really amazing chocolate bars, and their customers love it. Perhaps if our co-creation junkies wanted more ethical style, and were willing to pay the premium for that, then we’d be more than happy to source only the most ethical fabrics and materials for our custom men’s dress shirts.

But something else that is important aside from an ethical product is an ethical business in their marketing practices. These are all things to consider when building your business. Be ethical and reap the benefits. Fight dirty and get scorned in the end.