Home topics news News News Is your business ethical? 5 point checklist Julian Smith July 20, 2011 We only have to take a quick look at the News of the World debacle to understand the importance of trading fairly and ethically in business. And it’s not just the threat of your company being brought into ruin that should have you shying away from dodgy dealings – research has also shown that an ethical business is a successful business. So how do we get there? Not many people start a business with the intention of trading unethically. Most business owners create and integrate a set of values to form the framework of their business dealings; revolving largely around words such as ‘integrity’, ‘ethically’ and ‘trust’. Including News Corp. They reference upholding ‘The Integrity of the Law’ as one if their key standards of business conduct. While it’s doubtful that as SME’s, any of us would ever find ourselves staring down the barrel of a scandal on quite the same magnitude as News Corp, there are some very important lessons that every business owner can take from this case. It’s not just enough to make a list of all the values and principles your business will abide by, you actually have to live them. This isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Here are my top tips for making sure you stay on the straight and narrow in your business practices. Go back to basics . Take ten minutes to reflect on