Business Ethics

This has been a challenging year for me with regards to ethics. I’ve had encounters with both clients and contractors that have left a bad taste in my mouth.

It’s been a real eye opener for me. I have always had extremely strong business ethics and consider my word to be golden. I take pride in my work, delivering on time and in clear communication with my business contacts and I expect the same from others.

This past year I have been challenged by clients who haven’t lived up to their end of the agreements by not paying the balance on their completed websites, outside contractors who guaranteed work that didn’t deliver and the contacts who continually add more work to the already agreed upon price.

I have bent over backwards in building a strong and reliable brand name for my company and trying to deliver to everyone’s 100% satisfaction.

I have made many mistakes in this past year:

1. Not requiring the full deposit and making payment arrangements with small business owners who couldn’t afford to pay up front
2. Lowering my price to compete with offshore companies
3. Allowing clients to add on to the agreed upon work without charging extra
4. Going against my “gut” and doing business with clients that I felt were going to be difficult to work with
5. Accepting contractors’ excuses of “just one more day” and “almost finished”
6. Paying for outsourced work before it is complete
7. Expecting others to have the same business ethics I have

I have always been a person to learn from problems and mistakes and to take away a lesson from each of them.

The lesson I learned this past year was to value my own business and worth, continue to treat others in accordance to my individual principles and finally, that it isn’t personal, it’s business.

Joanne