Jesse Willms: You Need To Be Ethical If You Want To Survive In Business

Being ethical in all of your business dealings should be your first priority.

That also should be second nature, but many people fail to grasp this basic concept – especially in the online marketplace. They’d never lie to someone in person and if they ran a brick and mortar operation; they’d be honest because they’d have to look their customers in the eye. But, the anonymity of Internet marketing seems to create a distance that makes many of us forget we are dealing with real people, and not just a bunch of electronic wallets.

It can be all too easy to behave unethically online. Bad people and scoundrels have created a lot of software that makes it simple to hide IP addresses, disguise where your email is coming from or simply disappear when a customer has a complaint.

But, taking advantage of any of these tactics is pure folly. Sure, you might get some short-term profits; but you will hurt your company and your business in the long term. Don’t forget that it costs a lot more time and effort to get a new customer than it does to keep making money from a repeat customer. If you rip someone off, you generate one sale. If you treat them honestly, you have the potential to make dozens of sales. Now, which option do you think is better for your business in the long term?

Beyond that, the number of online companies that behave unethically puts us all at risk. Do you really want the government to feel like they have to step in and saddle us with a lot of expensive regulation and oversight? Each and every time you follow an unethical business practice, you bring the entire online marketplace one day closer to that happening.  Furthermore, behaving unethically exposes your company to the risk of being heavily fined by the government.

Large multinational firms have been fined tens of millions of dollars for unethical behavior. Don’t think that just because we work online we are not at risk of the same types of penalties.

So, when you do business, treat your customers the way you’d want a company to treat you. Be honest. Don’t exaggerate in your ads. Don’t spam people from phony email addresses. Make your pricing and terms of service easy for your customers to understand. Don’t ever take advantage of people.

It’s not only the right thing to do as a human being – it’s the right thing to do if you want to be a good businessperson.

Jesse Willms