Profit Vs Ethics

Hi! 👋

This is a topic I have had plans to make a rant about, and it's good it's coming out as a contest.

I'm into business, but let me share this experience of mine as a client to someone.

There's this lady I used to buy engine oil from whenever I wanted to change the oil in my generator. One of those days, I got there and the price I was told was a bit higher than what I used to pay. I argued a little and bought it anyway.

Getting home, I saw that the lid of the container had been slipped off a little, which showed that some quantity of the oil had been removed—something that is very common among people who do that kind of business. The place was close to my house, so I went back to tell her that the oil she sold to me had been tampered with and a good portion was missing. She started playing ignorant, and I just laughed and returned. That was it—I stopped patronising her.

In business, especially in this modern era, what the lady did is what is commonly known as being ‘smart’ and making big profit, because business is all about profit.

Okay, in case you're wondering where the profit is in what the lady did, let me explain. The oil extracted from the container is usually kept and combined with other quantities extracted from other containers. When they’ve amounted to a full container, they sell it as a whole. Now you know, right? And it's very common with other products such as cement, rice, beans, and many others.

The worst thing is that, no matter how we want to preach it, a lot of people out there who are into business no longer consider ethics in their business. All that matters to them is profit, because profit is business and business is profit.

I'm not saying that business shouldn't be profit-oriented—no, let it be—but let humans be considered.

The kind of business I do is a service-oriented type, and I make sure I do it very well to the best of my knowledge and capacity. Sometimes I tip off some of the services as free of charge, such as ironing school uniforms for the little students around my vicinity. Does that mean I have excess money and I don't need money again, or I don't like to make profit? No, that's not it. Sometimes how we treat humans in business matters a lot. These children, whenever their school uniforms dry, you need to see the joy with which they rush in to bring them for me to iron, and I do it happily too. Their parents love it as well, and we are building connections and relationships—not creating a hot environment all in the name of making profit in business.

The worst situation is in edible businesses such as food and drinks. The rate at which business people adulterate edible items just to make profit is high. Sometimes I just wish for the world to end now so that everyone can go and rest. But I haven't enjoyed the world yet 🥹

Thanks for reading.

Image used is mine