Sometimes the hardest person to stand up to, is yourself. As a small business owner, there most often is no other option. With no manager to keep you in check, no HR department to run a question by, and no corporate attorney to question your methods, most days the only person you have is yourself. You get to play good cop (Woo! We beat our sales goal - high five). But, you also … [Read more...] about The Truth Test: Staying True to Your Ethics
Ethics
Ethics in Marketing: Use Your Marketing Superpowers for Good Not Evil
Ever notice yourself with credit card in hand about to buy an insanely expensive unicorn horn warmer? Something you clearly don’t need since you live in the tropics, but you purchase anyway? Marketing at its core is persuasiveness. The ability to make your customer feel understood, liked and excited. In the wrong hands though it is kryptonite, uranium and a really stabby … [Read more...] about Ethics in Marketing: Use Your Marketing Superpowers for Good Not Evil
The Ick Factor: When Your Personal & Business Ethics Don’t Align
Shopping small and local as much as possible is very important to me. When I started seriously making chainmaille, I decided to buy my supplies from a family-owned shop I came across on Etsy. I loved that my money was going toward supporting a fellow small business. Because I was new to making jewelry and metal is expensive, I started making silver plated jewelry. The … [Read more...] about The Ick Factor: When Your Personal & Business Ethics Don’t Align
Trademark Registration: What Happens When You Skip It
Have you considered going through the trademark registration process? I run a web design studio, Aeolidia, and we just last week had a client get all the way to launching her new site when she discovered that a business in her field was using a name so similar to hers that she didn't feel comfortable going ahead, and we're now redesigning for her. I know that this is the kind … [Read more...] about Trademark Registration: What Happens When You Skip It
{Essential Ethics} Paying Late: A Victimless Crime?
You’re expecting money from a major client, when you receive an email. “Looking for your cheque?” it reads. “Afraid we’ve changed our payment terms. You’ll be being paid every six weeks from now on. Hope you don’t mind. If you do, of course, we can always find someone else to supply us.” But what about the mortgage? And the car tax, the gas bill, the water rates? How will these … [Read more...] about {Essential Ethics} Paying Late: A Victimless Crime?
