The 5 Pillars of Ethical Businesses. Vote With Your $Dollars!
We Could Change the World with Ethical Consumerism.
Consumers possess the ability and responsibility to influence change by consciously supporting ethical businesses, creating a ripple effect of change. When consumers align their spending with companies that reflect their values, they contribute to the reinforcement and promotion of those values globally. This collective effort fosters an environment where businesses are motivated to prioritize and integrate wider considerations into their operations.
Additionally, we are a big fan of transparent businesses (which we will dive into in future articles). In order to be transparent, a business will be under scrutiny from the public. While it is true that the public is more forgiving with companies that are transparent, it is still vital for these businesses to have a code that the public respects. After careful review, we have boiled that code down to the 5 pillars of ethical businesses.
All businesses should strive to take care of the following 5 pillars:
Their customers - without them the business does not exist. Do not rip anyone off. Stand behind your products and services. Make right any mistakes. Innovate.
Themselves (the business) - if the company isn’t making money it helps no one. A profitable company can contribute positively to its employees, customers, and the community.
Their employees - The business is the employees. Taking care of them should always come before taking care of the ownership group. A truly ethical business should be proud of how much their employees make
The community - Go beyond profit-driven motives by actively engaging with the community. Contribute to local initiatives, participate in charitable events, or undertake projects that benefit the community, such as volunteering for cleaning up the park or beyond.
The Environment - Minimize environmental impact by adopting practices that do the least harm, within reasonable bounds.
Does your current business try to adhere to these 5 pillars?
Let us know in the comments below!
Thanks for reading!
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For over 3 billion years on this planet there were only single-celled organisms. Then one day they somehow learned to work together and make complex multi-celled creatures . Right now we are like those single-celled organisms. Our next evolution is finding how to work together, better… (like we wrote about here).
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I agree with these but I have a minor quibble. I think the order of importance is slightly out of whack. I always put my employees before myself. In 30 years of running a small business, I've never missed a payroll, often not paying myself and pulling from savings to cover it. My employees expect a check every Friday but sometimes payments to me can take two months or more. My employees are often the face of my business since I can't be directly on every job. You want them saying good things behind your back, lol.
Having previously been in business for several decades our values were aligned with what you prescribe.
However with big business competing and immigrants undercutting (often poorer quality) and large equipment costs we struggled for the first time. Lockdowns finished us.
I still believe in these values but more pressures are on small businesses. Not to say many small businesses cannot continue to succeed.
I still try to shop locally first.