There is a lot of talk on forums about business ethics. There is also a lot of talk about the law. For some reason, a lot of home business owners seem to think that as long as something is legal, it’s okay. Well, this is where I beg to differ. I have a serious problem with people who throw ethics out the window. But for those of you who don’t know the difference between the two, I’m going to point them out clearly and then explain why I feel ethics are just as important as legalities.

Okay, let’s start with legal. An example of something that would be illegal would be selling a banned substance over the Internet, whatever it might be. If you’re caught doing it, you can be fined or even go to jail. The legal stuff is pretty straight forward because it’s written down in a law somewhere. Now, whether or not you’re aware of the law doesn’t matter. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. If you’re caught…you’re toast.

However, ethics is a whole different kettle of fish. See, there are no laws that govern ethical practices. While you might not get into any legal trouble trying to pull these things off, you’ll certain incur the wrath of your customers and fellow marketers. Let’s give, as an example, something that I find so common in this industry that it just makes me sick.

A home business owner sells a product to the public and promises that after 500 of these products are sold, the price is going to go up from $197 to $297. So everybody rushes to buy the product at $197 before the price goes up. Now, nobody really knows how many of these units are sold. There is just no way to tell. But it’s funny how, six months later, not only has the price not gone up, but it has actually gone down by $100. The reason this happens is simple. The owner couldn’t move any more product so he discounts it. There is nothing against the law to prevent him from doing this, but given his earlier promise, it’s pretty unethical in my book.

That’s just one of the many examples I could give you. Use your imagination and I’m sure you can come up with many others. Point is, people seem to think that this is okay because it’s NOT against the law. Well, I think it stinks. And anybody who does this, in my book, is not somebody I want to do business with.

So before you make any claims (nothing wrong with lowering the price if you never said you wouldn’t) make sure you stick with those claims. That’s what ethics are all about…keeping your word.

Seem to me to be something that should be easy enough to do.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

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