If you’re a small business practicing smart ethics but are being edged out by larger companies who exhibit unethical behavior, what should you do?
This question was asked of me this week when I taught a class on Business Ethics at The College of New Jersey.
The student who inquired was obviously concerned. In today’s business environment it’s not easy for a smaller-sized operation to do the right thing and remain competitive. The payment industry — in which my company Heartland is a member — is notorious for deceptive practices among acquirer representatives in their efforts to sell to merchants. I am keenly aware of the struggle many respectable organizations endure.
So how did I answer the young man’s question?
I told the student that as a small business owner you can and should protest unethical practices. Regardless if you feel the big guys who deceive their clients are edging you out, you should continue to behave in a way that your customers will always trust you. And by this I do not mean with words, I mean with actions. Trust is a company’s most valuable asset.
I told him if you stick to your guns and do the right thing, you can survive. I know, because I did.
Speaking to these students gave me a lot of hope that someday the mistrust and unscrupulous behavior we see among corporations — in my industry in particular — will fade. These young people will see for themselves that the right way to build a business is through adding more customers and providing more services — not through merchant rip-offs and other misleading tactics.
In all my years of doing business (I launched Heartland in 1997 with only $1 million in capital), I never doubted that doing the right thing would not help my business grow. Our promise to customers when we founded Heartland was we help businesses prosper by providing them with effective solutions in a fair, honest and transparent manner. In the 18 years since then, Heartland has grown into the fifth largest payment processor in the U.S. We now process more than $120 billion in annual volume for 360,000+ customers. And our promise remains the same.
We’ve built our reputation on doing the right thing.
Being ethical in business is a choice. I’d like to believe that when the students in my class begin their business careers, that is the choice they will make, too.
Hi just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading your book Through the Fires. I use your company “Heartland” for my company and have done so for many years. Thank you for being an honest and up front corporation. I found the section on companies misleading small businesses and because as you say we are so busy cooking and running our business that we don’t have time to research what we really need that we sometimes have to trust what we are being told. I have been facing this situation for the past 12 years. In 2000 we were with Mutual of Omaha and were told that in 6 months everyone would be needing this device that the sever would take to the table and the customer would put in their PIN number so we took 3 after 2 years of never using them once we called the company and return them which they said was fine. Well needless to say Mutual of Omaha uses lease company’s to purchase this equipment which I was not aware of so you know the rest of the story. I have been taken to court in Chicago and now in New York which since I live in Pennsyvania and I am 75 years old really can’t go. Went so far as to write President Obama because in his first State of the Union address he was going to go after companies that defrauded small companies into buying unnessary things and making them thing that they were going to need them to operate their businesses. He referred me to different agencies which really didn’t help. One thing it has done for me is make me a very untrusting person of anyone trying to sell me anything,however not so of your company Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity especially after I read of all you have done in mentoring our youth. God bless you Judi Frazier
Judith, I am so sorry for what you went thru. If you are still fighting or paying the bad guys, please send me an e-mail to bob.carr@e-hps.com. We might be able to help you still. Thank you for your support. roc