When it comes to entrepreneurship and whether one starts alone or not, there comes a time where you must collaborate with others. In this short blog post, I want to share with you the reason I think creating an environment of trust is paramount in your project and why honesty is a core value that must be integrated.
For several reasons, one may be tempted to hide small details about their business or to try and make short paths. Even though, and we all know it, there are negative sides and consequences to doing that. As a female entrepreneur it is essential to make honesty a value of your business at all levels. Doing so will bring an atmosphere of trust within the team. It will also work for you in the sense that if transparency is associated with your work that will set you apart in comparison to your competition. Needless to say, honesty is the best way to ensure the longevity of your project.
Be honest from the get-go
It is essential to be honest with those who join you. This will create an environment of trust within the group with which you can move forward without being afraid. Managing a team by being sincere creates a standard that others will follow in your company. One of the benefits of honesty is that everyone feels that they are heard and listened to. For example, why not find an impartial person or a system that will be the listening ear of the company? It will save you from always having to confront people or opening a door of attack against your own leadership. Also, don’t forget that it’s more pleasant for everyone to work with peace of mind.
We have all come across administrative papers or contracts in which there are clauses written in small characters at the bottom of the pages or at the back of a sheet. Usually these clauses hide important information and finding about them too late, as a client, can be frustrating because they set you up for unfortunate surprises since the information provided was either unclear or complex, or both. Honesty extends to those areas as well, being clear with your services and your after-sale policies will earn you better reviews and more clients. Making a difference is choosing to be correct with the employees and the various collaborators you interact with, but also with the customers. Do not hesitate to recognize your limits so that everyone knows beforehand what he or she is committing to.
We see a lot of employees leaving a job that seemed great with a good salary to look for a company in which the answers to their questions are not vague. You should know that even if there are areas you are still working on as a company, when these are specified well in advance, employees and workers will not have a feeling of disappointment or betrayal. On the contrary, they will be happy to have been warned and will be able to act better accordingly. Honesty is for many an essential criterion before any business transaction can happen. Failing to be honest or simply put being ‘shady’ can potentially make you lose some of your best team members to your competitors.
The long term. No one wants to make the headlines for a week and then go out with a whimper because of lies in or about the business. If you want your project and your ideas to have an impact, you must aim for longevity. At the end of the day, good clients are the ones who stay with you for years. All your marketing campaigns would have been wasted if you cannot keep your new clients.
Suppliers may also start looking elsewhere if they realize that they cannot trust your company despite all the good things you might have demonstrated. Worse, when you have an online presence and lose the trust of your customers, bad reviews on google and social media can destroy your investment and your reputation.
In conclusion, a hopeful woman expects that all things will contribute to the good of those who remain transparent in their business. She will be rewarded as she opts for honestly as an essential value of her business. What is more, an environment of trust in the team will make your company standout and guarantee its longevity, that’s what an honest woman brings!
by Joyeuse M.
