The American Dream has long revolved around two components: home ownership and small business ownership. With the national real estate crash still far from being a long distant memory, many individuals are positioning themselves in the other direction. Dreams of pursuing a self-directed, self-managed position at the head of a local business are turning into reality as people also find themselves fed up with corporate managements who over-promise and under-deliver. And with real estate limping along like an eight hour marathoner in the final miles of the race, the businesses which are popping up are as varied as the selection inside a bag of mixed nuts.
Some people begin their business based on a profit motive, while others are more interested in focusing on offering products or services which grab their own attention. While every business save for those that are non-profit oriented – should turn a reasonable profit, making gobs of money should not be the only priority for a business founder. It is when the focus turns solely to making money that business ethics begin to deteriorate, and corruption begins to seep into an organization. This leads to disaster, as was recently evidenced in the real estate markets when lenders reduced their standards to such minimums that unqualified buyers were approved for loans.
To break the cycle of prosperity leading to downfall, it’s important for business people to return to business basics. The most basic tenet in the world of commerce is to provide a necessary product or service for a reasonable price to the consumer, such that the business turns a reasonable profit. It is when this guideline is sidestepped or ignored that problems begin to appear. With many people returning to the half of the American Dream that involves starting up a small business, ethics needs to be a key driver underlying their motivations, or the foundation will be laid for yet another business cycle of boom, followed by bust.