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Would You Disregard Honor Just To Make Money?

by rapidscc
15 replies
Hi,

This is something that I've been thinking lately.

I've been caught up in this situation several times
and there are occasions when I go towards
making money.

Example: I promised myself to focus online and
stop going to offline clients. I even told some of
my clients that I would be stopping my offline
service.

But when business slowed down during the beginning
of the year, I once again found myself knocking on
offline clients doors to pump up my income.

I develop accounting systems offline, and so am in demand
especially during the beginning of the year (tax and audit
season.)

I know it's not a big deal but I feel that
I'm breaking my own vow. This is causing a bit of
a struggle for me. One part of me is saying "Just focus
online, you'll have enough you'll see" while the other
part of me tends to get scared at the thought of
not doing offline action and what I'll miss out on.

The sad thing is, clients notice this too and think that
I'm simply there to augment my income online. Though
I still do excellent work that they need, I think they
also notice the lack of enthusiasm.

How about you? Would you rather keep your honor than
make money while looking like an opportunist? What if
doing so would make it financially hard for you? Would you
still keep to your word and maintain strength of character
or would you break your word?
#disregard #honor #make #money
  • Profile picture of the author ic7
    Originally Posted by rapidscc View Post

    Would you rather keep your honor than
    make money while looking like an opportunist? What if
    doing so would make it financially hard for you?
    I don't think it's about honor. It's about being Boss and taking your business where you want it to go. I would grit my teeth and realize that for a month or two things are going to be thin.

    But after that transition you are more in charge of the exact business you want.

    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author BIG Mike
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      Omar, I'm going to fight really dirty here. I know this isn't really directly
      related to the question you're asking but it does have to do with ethics.

      Here is the situation.

      Your child is seriously ill. He or she needs $1,000 for an operation.

      You don't have it.

      You have gone to every charity and organization that donates money for
      these causes but nobody will help you. You've exhausted every legal and
      ethical avenue to get this money.

      Without the operation, your child will die...no question.

      How far will you go to prevent that from happening?

      My point is this.

      Yes, some people do things just for the money and for no other good
      reason that to sit out on the beach and drink Jack Daniels all day.

      But some people are desperate...very desperate.

      Maybe even to the point of possibly losing a loved one.

      This is why I try not to judge anybody. Thank God I am not in a situation
      where I have to worry about money...maybe even never again.

      But I don't want to know what I'd do if in the scenario that I painted
      above.

      And I hope to God that nobody here who I care about ever finds themselves
      in that same situation.

      If nothing else...it's something to think about.
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      • Profile picture of the author Kelly Verge
        Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

        Your child is seriously ill. He or she needs $1,000 for an operation.

        You don't have it...

        It doesn't even have to be an illness.

        Something as "small" as putting food on the table, paying the power bill, or putting gas in the car can also drive someone to the "whatever it takes" point. The REAL test isn't whether they'll step on their pride (as you have done), but whether or not they'll trample on their ethics (crime, seedy activities, etc).
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      • Profile picture of the author DogScout
        Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

        Omar, I'm going to fight really dirty here. I know this isn't really directly
        related to the question you're asking but it does have to do with ethics.

        Here is the situation.

        Your child is seriously ill. He or she needs $1,000 for an operation.

        You don't have it.

        You have gone to every charity and organization that donates money for
        these causes but nobody will help you. You've exhausted every legal and
        ethical avenue to get this money.

        Without the operation, your child will die...no question.

        How far will you go to prevent that from happening?

        My point is this.

        Yes, some people do things just for the money and for no other good
        reason that to sit out on the beach and drink Jack Daniels all day.

        But some people are desperate...very desperate.

        Maybe even to the point of possibly losing a loved one.

        This is why I try not to judge anybody. Thank God I am not in a situation
        where I have to worry about money...maybe even never again.

        But I don't want to know what I'd do if in the scenario that I painted
        above.

        And I hope to God that nobody here who I care about ever finds themselves
        in that same situation.

        If nothing else...it's something to think about.
        so true! If you are afraid enough, most will do things they would never consider under normal circumstances.
        That is an extreme example, but there is a constant fear for some. 'How will I feed my family? Will we be be living under a bridge? Etc. that makes some compromise themselves on a daily basis. In the OP's case, the 'battle' in in method, not ethics, so is more a personal preference.
        The ones that get to me are the ones that already have it, but are willing to compromise themselves for 'more'.

        "I don't want it all... I just want more!"
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  • Profile picture of the author theunknownthem
    I came in to say it's Honor, Courage, Commitment (US Navy) for me but the title gave me a different vibe than the actual post.

    As long as it's ethical, I'd do whatever I could to make money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Get Inspired Today
    You can get everything money will buy without a lick of character, but you can't get any of the things money won't buy--happiness, joy, peace of mind, winning relationships, etc. without character. Zig Ziglar
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  • Profile picture of the author jasni
    hai,

    i think you can manage both of them, offline and online business that you have. The matter is the time management. its not about honour or something like that. Manage your time carefully it will solve your problem.
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    • Profile picture of the author Aljiro
      Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

      Omar, I'm going to fight really dirty here. I know this isn't really directly
      related to the question you're asking but it does have to do with ethics.

      Here is the situation.

      Your child is seriously ill. He or she needs $1,000 for an operation.

      You don't have it.

      You have gone to every charity and organization that donates money for
      these causes but nobody will help you. You've exhausted every legal and
      ethical avenue to get this money.

      Without the operation, your child will die...no question.

      How far will you go to prevent that from happening?

      My point is this.

      Yes, some people do things just for the money and for no other good
      reason that to sit out on the beach and drink Jack Daniels all day.

      But some people are desperate...very desperate.

      Maybe even to the point of possibly losing a loved one.

      This is why I try not to judge anybody. Thank God I am not in a situation
      where I have to worry about money...maybe even never again.

      But I don't want to know what I'd do if in the scenario that I painted
      above.

      And I hope to God that nobody here who I care about ever finds themselves
      in that same situation.

      If nothing else...it's something to think about.
      Originally Posted by DogScout View Post

      so true! If you are afraid enough, most will do things they would never consider under normal circumstances.
      That is an extreme example, but there is a constant fear for some. 'How will I feed my family? Will we be be living under a bridge? Etc. that makes some compromise themselves on a daily basis. In the OP's case, the 'battle' in in method, not ethics, so is more a personal preference.
      The ones that get to me are the ones that already have it, but are willing to compromise themselves for 'more'.

      "I don't want it all... I just want more!"
      Good point by Steven and DogScout above. I have actually met people who live under bridges (common here in my country) and its sad to see people in that situation.

      For Omar,

      Its best to have a back up plan and thus I second the recommendation that you should not burn bridges if possible. If you can balance the two (online + offline) till you reach the financial stability you aim for I suggest you keep both.

      Thanks,
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  • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
    Originally Posted by rapidscc View Post

    there are occasions when I go towards
    making money.
    Omigod, how could anyone do that in a business?

    Don't mind me at all. I've had a real appreciation for a lot of your posts lately, just happen to be (too?) focused on humor.

    This one touches on a few things I've thought of lately. First I don't think the honor part is the slightest problem. If you make a vow to someone and later want to change it, discuss it with them and they don't mind at all, it must be perfectly ok. Since the vow is to you, you probably have the contact info, can get in touch, and see if you agree.

    My theory and experience is that for anyone starting these days, making money offline is about 100 times easier than online. There was a story in our local paper lately about an 8 year old worth $900,000 net from businesses he started. I posted a link to it in a thread maybe 2 months ago.

    Took the paper to work and showed it to a couple of handymen there. One of them was reading it and the other asked him "What businesses did he get into?" "Lawn mowing and pressure washing." "Those are good. These days everyone wants to be a computer expert. Get into something like that and you have a lot less competition."

    That struck me as one of the smartest things I have heard in a long time. While everyone smart enough to put up sites is fighting it out with the other almost 8 billion pages on line, an 8 year old can rake it in offline.

    A human being is incredibly complex. There might easily be more than a 100,000 little mental processes and tendencies growing, shrinking, changing, at any given time. I wouldn't expect the honor part to be responsible for the lack of enthusiasm. There are a lot of other possibilities.

    It might not even be happening. People can usually tell if you are wearing a suit or not and they can base their whole assessment of you on something like that. Being able to see beyond their own assumptions and directly into a person is probably not even close to possible for most people.

    I do want to pay attention to other people's feedback because there might be useful information in it, but a lot of it is just so off that it is not even worth paying attention to.

    Got to run off but will pm you a link later in the day if I get a chance.

    best wishes, lloyd
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  • Profile picture of the author Sparklesperson
    I think we sometimes tend to forget that "internet marketing" is often just a facet of our businesses. Just because we are marketing online doesn't mean we don't step offline once in a while and go back to other, more traditional methods.

    That said, if you truly want to work only online, there are ways to boost your business when it's good so that you don't have those dips in income. Keep educating yourself, actually build time into your schedule for "sharpening the axe" in this fashion, and that seasonal dip will level itself out.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nigels
    It seems to me that the real part of honour involves delivering to someone, client or otherwise, whatever you've promised them individually.

    If you told your offline clients that you had a general plan to go online only and then changed your mind, that might mean a little loss of credibility. They may smile knowingly next time you mention it. But that's different from your honour. Your honour comes from making a specific promise to do something for them and keeping it.

    Your promise to yourself to go online only is still important. But you have a unique ability to forgive yourself for breaking this promise. You also don't need to make it again until you're confident of getting it right,
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  • Profile picture of the author actionplanbiz
    maybe vow when your online clients can supply your income then say no to offline clients?
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