Ethics, honesty, and helping the community - are these compatible with business?

You might not believe some of the things I've been told by various people over the past year. Here are some quotes, as best as I can remember them.

"To succeed in business, you have to give up some of your moral standards."

"If you are going to succeed in business, you have to rip people off."

"You cannot succeed in business if you are honest."

In all these cases, I politely disagreed. I believe you can be honest and ethical, and succeed in business. In fact I think that honesty and ethics helps with keeping long-term customers and business relationships. You can fool someone once, but once they know they have been fooled, they won't want to deal with you any more.

But it is possible to go beyond even basic honesty and ethics. Many businesses both help the individual customers, and by doing so may even help humanity as a whole. It may be only in a small way, but even a small positive change is a good change to have.

One example of someone who helps others is Gordon Alexander and his products. His "Chattel Report" showed many people how they could make money to help them survive and even thrive. Many people got their first real experience of being in business by following the Chattel Report (and I include myself in that list of people). Gordon Alexander's "Remote Hypnosis" is practically unique among products which show you advertising techniques since it shows you how to succeed without needing to HYPE.

Another person who helps others individually and in so doing helps on a larger scale is Michael Ross. He has many years of experience as a business consultant and through that experience he has seen countless business problems and helped to solve them. His insights into business which you find in his products are priceless.

I will also mention Julie Jordan Scott. She is a life coach and I am always amazed at her insights. She helps people to be more harmonious and balanced, and by working with individuals she not only helps them individually but plays a part in helping us all to have a healthy and happy community.

There are PLENTY of others I could mention who paticipate in this forum. While our specific businesses may be targeted at individuals, by helping these people through our products and services many of us are also helping the public good, as there may be many follow-on effects we may not see.

To take one example, it wouldn't surprise me if Gordon's Chattel Report could have helped to prevent some families going homeless in tough times. All the products and services I have mentioned here, and many of the products and services I am aware of which have been offered by Sowpubbers, have these beneficial follow-on effects too.

If you want to, you certainly can make money by exploiting others or taking advantage of their trust in others (some might say gullibility). Or you can sell products which most people might consider immoral. But why would you want to do this when instead you can succeed financially, while both helping people as individuals and helping the greater community as well? Of these options, I know which one sounds more attractive to me.

I guess in a roundabout way, this is my answer to those who told me that you cannot succeed in business without ripping people off or lowering your moral standards. It would be a very sad world we live in if that was true. Thankfully, it is not.

Not only can you be honest and ethical, but you can help both individuals and the greater community as well, if you choose your business with care. If you do this, you can do your business with peace of mind and a quiet pride in what you do.

Thanks for reading. :)

Dien Rice