In a world that is concerned about what they can get and not really about the other things, making profit is always on top of the list for many businesses out there - even as little as the little retail store just down the street. And the truth is, the sole aim of most, if not all businesses out there is to make profits so we can’t really blame them when they focus more on that because they have to stay in business but then, that doesn’t also makes it right when they choose to discard the relevance of ethics too.
For most people, whenever they want to choose a business idea, what they care more about is the amount of profit they can make from it. Most times, they even forget about the risk and capital needed to start due to how high the profit seems. The last thing they most times think of is the business ethics and customer satisfaction. Maybe they might have these in mind at some point but once the profit starts coming in, they quickly lose focus on the other important things like ethics and customer satisfaction.
I have seen a lot of businesses that still do well even when the other businesses around them are not doing well. Most times, those other businesses blame it on their village people (bad luck) but sadly, it isn’t. These businesses just lack good customer service and relationships. Because they know how much value they give to their customers, it makes them care less about what their customers think or feel because they know they don’t have too many options to choose from. I have places I still patronize not really because I enjoy their services but because I don’t have too many options to choose from but I know I won’t think twice once I get better options.
There are businesses out there that have their priorities straight. They know just how important it is to make profit but they also know the value that the customers they have bring to their businesses and that has always made them strive even the toughest situations that many other other businesses couldn’t even handle. They understand the importance of ethics and also they know how important it is to make profit to stay in business.
I offered a course in my past semester that relates to business and we were taught the importance of profit in business but they didn’t fail to also mention the importance of ethics in business. This is a very good way to help a lot of businesses do better. They should be oriented on the importance of ethics in their businesses and how to balance it with making profit. I believe that as long as they understand perfectly well how important ethics are in a business even as much as profit, they will learn to accept it and make room for it. And the beautiful part is that they will be the ones who will benefit the most from it.
The joy of staying in business when your competitors are fading away is a lot. It means you are doing something right that they might probably still be struggling with. Growing a business has a procedure and if so many of these procedures are skipped or ignored, the business owner will pay dearly for it with time because no matter how they try, those steps that were skipped or ignored will be very obvious and it can be in the aspect of poor customer service and general business ethics.
So the best way to strike a balance between business ethics and profit is understanding what they are and how they apply to your business. Having a good knowledge of both and what your business stands for will give you a better understanding of when to prioritize profits over ethics and vice versa.
Thank you for reading through. ❤️
