5 Tips to Run Your Business with Integrity

Today we have a guest blogger.  You can find out more about him at the post’s conclusion (Randy Kemp).

Academic blog posts

Let me first share some articles from some academic friends of mine (Randy Kemp):

• 10 Startling Stats About Minorities in STEM Minorities
• 25 Female STEM Superheroes of Today Superheroes
• 50 College Coaches You Should Follow on Twitter College Coaches
• 20 Compelling Reasons to Consider Volunteering After College Volunteering
• 10 Ways SEO’s Can Over-Optimize a Site Over-Optimize
• 15 Telling Facts About the Next College Freshman Class Freshman Class
• 8 Great Apps to Monitor Your Health Your Health
• 50 Cool Search Engines for Serious Readers [Updated] Search Engines
• The 50 Best Blogs By Business Professors Business Professors
• 50 Excellent Online Professional Development Resources for Teachers Resources for Teachers
• The Top 10 Academic Celebrities in American History Academic Celebrities
• Inside 11 of the Most Innovative Elementary Schools in America Elementary Schools
• The 20 Best Job Apps for New Grads Job Apps
• The 10 Most Creative People in Higher Education Today  Creative People

Now back to our guest blogger (Randy Kemp).

Integrity

English: A business ideally is continually seeking feedback from customers: are the products helpful? are their needs being met? Constructive criticism helps marketers adjust offerings to meet customer needs. Source of diagram: here (see public domain declaration at top). Questions: write me at my Wikipedia talk page (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What is it and does your business have this characteristic? If you consistently run your business ethically and honestly, then you are running your business with integrity. This could be as simple as not reporting your books accurately to the IRS. As easy as that sounds, some owners stray away and do not follow all the rules. Running your business with integrity is critical because you want people to view your company as a trustworthy, quality establishment. Below are 5 tips that will aid you in running your business with integrity in mind:

Follow the Rules

Following guidelines and laws when operating your business is important. It sets a great example for your employees to follow, and it shows your customers that you are a straightforward and responsible owner.

Not adhering to these can easily put your business and yourself at risk.  This also displays a poor model for your staff. For example, a business owner feels he already pays too much in taxes, so he decides to manipulate his bookkeeping to lower the amount of taxes he has to pay. Some of his staff members notice this, which in turn puts them in a sticky situation to either report it or stay quiet.

This is bad for all parties involved because you have put your business and yourself in jeopardy. Your staff members who noticed it are also at risk because if they say something they lose their job, and if they don’t then they can get into trouble for not reporting it. Case in point, the risk of cheating the system puts everything you have worked hard for in jeopardy. Outsourced bookkeeping is a great solution because it not only keeps you from financial errors but helps you avoid any temptation of breaking the rules.

Help Others to

Customers are Ignoring You (Photo credit: ronploof)

Help Yourself

Establishing relationships with your clients and employees is a simple way of showing you care. Small business owners know this better than most because it is a great way to set yourself apart from your competitors. If you take the time to make sure that your clients are not only treated with respect, but that their needs are also fulfilled, then you will build a great report with them.

As for your employees, encourage them to be creative in coming up with ways to improve the company. This allows your staff to feel included in business decisions. As the owner, you have final say in what gets done, but getting your employees’ perspectives on decisions is a great idea.

Offer Quality

When customers come to you to do business they expect a quality product or service in return. If you are unable to offer this to your customers, then perhaps you are in the wrong industry. When you offer quality to your customers, across the board, they will likely return to you for repeat business. And hopefully, they recommend your service or product to others.

People are willing to pay more for a quality, reliable product. As a result, you should focus on delivering quality services, because price becomes easy to set once you know where your product or service stands.

Offer Value over

Valued Customer (Photo credit: withassociates)

Price

If you offer a quality product to your customers the price of that product should be higher, but keep in mind that price should not be your main focus. The value of a product and/or service and its price are directly correlated.

It is also important that you look at your competitor’s pricing.  You can then accurately price your product based on the competitive landscape.  You should always be researching what your competitors are doing. If you have trouble determining the price of your product, you may want to conduct some research, such as a focus group, to see what people are willing to pay.

Be the Best

Saying you are the best and actually being the best are two completely different things. If you say that you are the best you need to be able to back it up with your quality product and/or service, great customer management and an excellent reputation. Over-exceeding people’s expectations and delivering quality results will boost the integrity of your company by showing you care about your client, not just your profits.

If you practice these tips you can meet your dream of success. Attaining integrity for you and your business is not difficult; it is just a matter of being genuine and fair in everything you do.  People will notice when you put effort into running your business ethically, and they will respect that.

About the Author:

Bert Doerhoff is owner and founder of Accubiz a firm providing small business accounting services  out of Jefferson City, Missouri. Prior to opening his own firm, Doerhoff worked for Peat, Marwich, Mitchell & Co, which is now known as KPMG. Frequently, he speaks at state level and national conferences on various business management topics.