I admit it, horoscopes rule my life. I am one of those superstitious idiots who ill read a bad horoscope and then dwell on it for a week. This week, my horoscope was quite wonderful, but mentioned that I would have to make an ethical choice in business, and decide to who and how I would be willing to sell out (This wasn’t even a business horoscope!?!)

It got me thinking about ethics in business, an issue that I have come across time and time again through people who think that the way you run your business has a different set of ethical rules from the way you run your life (and some who run both extremely unethically). A couple of rules I think a lot of people need to learn (especially in small business) are:

Pay people on time

This includes employees, yourself and your suppliers. Most people accept flexibility and I’m happy to work with people who genuinely don’t have the cash and sort out an arrangement, but to try to sneak out without paying is just rude. And it starts a cycle. If you don’t get paid by your customers, then you can’t pay your suppliers and we all lose.

Your employees are hanging out for the day your business is worth a fortune, they are only there for the pay they receive weekly. Give it to them. I am shocked at how many people are nice enough to allow people not to pay them until they can’t pay their rent, this niceness shouldn’t be abused, it should be rewarded.

But it’s not all about money

I hate people who say ‘it’s just the way business works’ and who look down on you for not being a cut throat, money and power hungry machine. I find the kind of personality that thrives off underhanded competition just plain weird. That’s not business, that’s a psychological disorder! Play by generally accepted social rules, do business as if you are doing it with friends, not enemies.

Work with people you believe in

A benefit of owning your own company is that you have the choice to work with who you want, when you want to. Don’t forgo that choice in order to make profits, because you will lose int he long run. You don’t have to ‘sell out’ to anyone, you do have to wake up tomorrow and look at yourself in the mirror and be happy with what you see.