Nov 19, 2023·edited Nov 23, 2023Liked by The Society of Problem Solvers
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.
Nov 18, 2023Liked by The Society of Problem Solvers
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.
Nov 23, 2023Liked by The Society of Problem Solvers
I agree with Don’s reply. Employees are very important within a business and more so in smaller enterprises.
When locked down for a few months at a time
(Twice) you still have overheads to pay including for staff and rent/lease. And when equipment runs into many 100s of thousands dollars in leasing it can stretch you too far. You can only keep injecting your own personal funds for so long.
It's might be difficult to have an entirely ethical business when the foundations that allow or support that business are extremely corrupt...I mean government. I suppose it is possible with very small operations.
Government is always a problem, but we have seen this done with larger businesses. We would not include publicly traded businesses in this because their hands are locked to the state. We try to avoid them whenever possible although we know that isn’t always possible.
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.
Very sorry to hear about this.
How many employees did it have? Were all practices transparent?
Did you attempt to harness wisdom from the crowd by swarming your employees?
Not all businesses are fixable. But having ethics is the first step.
I agree with Don’s reply. Employees are very important within a business and more so in smaller enterprises.
When locked down for a few months at a time
(Twice) you still have overheads to pay including for staff and rent/lease. And when equipment runs into many 100s of thousands dollars in leasing it can stretch you too far. You can only keep injecting your own personal funds for so long.
It's might be difficult to have an entirely ethical business when the foundations that allow or support that business are extremely corrupt...I mean government. I suppose it is possible with very small operations.
Government is always a problem, but we have seen this done with larger businesses. We would not include publicly traded businesses in this because their hands are locked to the state. We try to avoid them whenever possible although we know that isn’t always possible.