Is Honest Entrepreneur an oxymoron?

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   worldlifesiteposted 15 years ago

   I'm speaking of complete honesty.  That means no embellishments, no exploding figures, completely honest in marketing, hiring, everything.  Some say there is no such thing, what do you think?

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      DogSiDaedposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Not literally of course, though I think you know that. It is possible to be an entreprenuer and honest, while many perhaps are not entirely. It is to do with the person, their thinking, their greed and what they are willing to do to get ahead and make money.

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      cosetteposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      no, of course not.

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      wscott1971posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Deleted
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         worldlifesiteposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Wardell of https://www.ecobusiness.com/wrscott
         
         I think men will begin faithful but, years down the road they wonder.  Some women do as well but they seem to hide it better.  It is difficult to be with one person for life or a very long time.
         
         I think that happens in business also.  Especially when they want more profits and market share.  I think it is impossible to hire a competely honest staff and therfore you can not have a completely honest business.  Being that an entreprenuer started the business, it'll be the entreprenuer(s) that gets the dishonesty blame when his/her company's employee does some dishonest practice.  In fact I think there are people out there that will attempt to take advantage of a completely honest employer, that is seen as weakness by some.
         
         I think you need to keep some things quiet, not out of dishonestly but, to prevent some wrong action to the truth because of others being dishonest.

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            nccaverposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Was this link posted as an example of a honest or dishonest business?

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            TheGlassSpiderposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I can see what you're saying here; you certainly make a good point that it can be difficult to hire a completely honest staff (assuming one has or is building a large business-fortunately, mine is currently a business of one ); one always runs the risk of hiring someone icky who looked good.
            
            However, in that case, the honest entrepreneur has the ability to act in a certain way upon becoming aware of the problem. I think it's reasonable to say that having made a hiring mistake wouldn't make the entrepreneur less honest as long as (s)he took appropriate action.

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   Dale Mazurekposted 15 years ago

   There is such a thing because i consider myself one.
   
   You ask anyone on this site if I have ever spammed them or tried to sell them anything but yet as a result of Hubpages I build my business on a daily basis.
   
   The thing you are getting at is somewhat true though.  many, many marketers online are very dishonest.  We see the spammers come out here almost on a daily basis in the evenings.
   
   I will admit the dishonesty of so many does make my job a lot more difficult.  Just building trust is a big part of my effort.  However I do enjoy being one of the good guys.
   
   Cheers

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   Leta Sposted 15 years ago

   Huh?
   
   Uh, yeah...  Is an honest employee an oxymoron?

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   MikeNVposted 15 years ago

   No it is not.  But "Keeping Promises" is the ultimate Oxymoron to politicians.

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   worldlifesiteposted 15 years ago

   Dishonesty does effect all business owners.  Prospects become more leery and weary of the sales pitch until they become hardened. 
   
   It must be completely difficult if you did have a legitimate work from home, telework offer or if you actual were in the vitamin business and do have really good ones you'd like others to give it a try( I'm in neither and have no interest in them, I play with software).
   
   The other thing that hurts others and their sales potential is when these safe guard agencies fail to police or warn consumers.
   
   As far as spammer go I usually see them a desperate people, some normal, out to make a buck so you can't rely on anything they say and you may get a virus from their email.
   
   That is sad but, from years on being online its just what I've been taught to see them as.

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   thirdmilleniumposted 15 years ago

   There are many businesses where you do not need to be dishonest. You will find many people there to fit your description. No oxymorons there

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   nadine_stowneposted 15 years ago

   And what would honest marketing look like? Even basic marketing involves adjectives that might or might not be true of the company on any given day. "Hardworking" could be completely true on Tuesday and then only partially true on Friday. "Competent" is accurate unless a newer version of a program comes out or the client asks you to do something completely different than the norm. "Energetic" would be true only on the days when the employees have had their coffee... do you see what I'm saying? If a company had to be completely honest all the time in marketing, they would have to change their marketing scheme every day in order to keep up with themselves.
   
   I do believe that there are companies out there that try their best to be as truthful and accurate as possible. I know some truly trustworthy companies out there that do their best to be honest and sincere with their numbers, reports, conversations, product development, etc. You just have to know where to look.

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   Leta Sposted 15 years ago

   I work in marketing and write copy for a living.  Trust me, there is an honest way to use language (and images as well) to get an accurate message across.  Suffice it to say, I would not be working in this area if I wasn't confident about it.
   
   Being dishonest is NO way to do business.  It is a short term approach at best as far as earning $, and ultimately makes no sense.

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      tksenseiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      You don't need the "it" there.

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         Leta Sposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         That's not particularly grammatically correct.  And you still don't have the job, .

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      Bovine Currencyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Lita, can you point me to a hub (if you have one) on marketing/copy.  I am already following you but you have 85 hubs too and its 7.30 am here, I am zombified but I would like to read one if you have

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   ddsurfscaposted 15 years ago

   I am not sure about that one but I think I have a couple---
   how about:
   extra money   or
   nice cop

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    worldlifesiteposted 15 years ago

    I think there are some businesses that have a dishonest business model because the product is dishonest.  We all seem to be familiar with online business lingo so I would say that in online marketing PPC is dishonest.  The model itself is dishonest.  Everyone here may have heard the horror stories of competitors intentially increasing your PPC to cost you money without any potential for a sale.
    
    Impressions are erroneously counted because the counter increments when ever the file containing the ad copy is opened, it doesn't account for errors, false loads, half loads.  So many companies know this programming problem yet they still won't fix it. 
    
    There are other problems in computing that I think is dishonest or wrong.  Who owns the computer, the user or the site they are visiting?  Its the user.  Shouldn't I get permission to write to a users machine rather than accept that they are implying that I can because they visited my site.  There is still much surfing done by the site rather than the user meaning, I can visit a site and that site will surf, using my ip address to several other sites who in turn load files onto my machine.  This is standard pratice in the field yet no one is doing anything to stop it which is wrong.  It also opens the user up to potential security leaks.
    
    There are other IT pratices that I can mention that I'd consider dishonest that is a standard part of the business model.

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    Mr. Nedposted 15 years ago

    Your question sounds like someone burned you.  Not all entrepreneurs are dishonest people.  There are many non-entrepreneur business people that can qualify as dishonest, too.  I would not associate business dishonesty with entrepreneurship alone.  Wrong is wrong no matter who the person.  Integrity above all else is so very important.

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    kirstenblogposted 15 years ago

    I think there are quite a few honest entrepreneurs here, when I first started here and asked about earning and how long it will take and what to do and all that sort of stuff I got brutally honest answers! Don't expect to earn until you have like 100 hubs, Read about seo, keywords and traffic generation... need I go on? I can't say as this is what I really wanted to hear . What I wanted was some magic bullet that would get me earning loads without having to do much work and what I got was don't expect millions and do expect to have to do loads of work! The honesty is why I am still here, it is refreshing actually! The great thing is that I do not have 100 hubs yet and already have seen a trickle of clicks with adsense and have had 2 sales with amazon and am excited to see more! I can't help but imagine that when I hit 100 hubs I may well start to earn enough to think of myself as knowledgeable on the subject of legitimate earning online
    
    To decide if what you are being told is honest, ask is this what they think I want to hear? If so I don't trust it, if its most decidedly not what I wanted to hear chances are its something I can take to the bank (so to speak).

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       worldlifesiteposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Can you give a link to that forum, it sounds interesting and helpful?

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    Stephen Beckposted 15 years ago

    Worldlifesite--I really appreciate you asking the question, and the responses have been right on.  I completely agree with Mr. Ned.  It's not about the type of business or who started it, but the kind of person running it.  This has been true as I've been working my online business as well as when I owned a construction business.  In the end, I like being reminded of the necessity of knowing who you are working with and doing your research before you start.  Thanks for the forum post.

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    cameron eslinposted 15 years ago

    The problem with that way of thinking (entrepreneurs are more dishonest than they are honest) is that nowadays people are afraid to start a business. We all heard a conversation or read a blog post about "big evil corporations". Everyone has a biased opinion. The boss is always the bad guy. Marketing always means "how can I better lie to my customers ?". When business men lie, people *notice*. You can't lie forever, you can't be dishonest forever.
    
    Instead of seeing business men and woman as hard-working and giving value, we see the worst. Of course, I'm not saying all entrepreneurs are angels, but it would be nice if we, as a society, had a better attitude towards business and marketing. When done right, it's fun and rewarding

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    earnestshubposted 15 years ago

    I believe the honesty and integrity of any business online or off will follow the CEO. Bad CEO bad business.

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    wychicposted 15 years ago

    There definitely are honest entrepreneurs, and more and more they will be the more successful ones. People are getting wiser to bull, there is less and less response to sensationalist advertising, and everyone knows that no product or service is perfect so you'll do best by letting a potential customer know about possible faults before they buy, they appreciate the honesty.
    
    I am a freelancer, so I am in the business of -- pardon the expression -- selling myself. No matter how badly I want or need a particular job, I make sure I am very honest with a potential client about my background, how sure I am that I can do the project, and how much time it'll really take to get a job done. What I've found is that people love the personal treatment I give each project, and if I point out holes in my education and experience that might cause an issue with the project, more often than not they teach me what else I need to know. They appreciate the honesty, they get exactly what they want out of a job, and I come away from it with lifetime value in the new skills I picked up.

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    PutnamMagazineWVposted 15 years ago

    There is good and there is bad. I really believe what goes around comes around. If all you care about is making money, then you will lie, cheat, and be dishonest in your pursuit of the almighty dollar. It will come back to haunt you. Maybe not right away, maybe five years down the road, but it will come back. There are many honest, hardworking entrepreneurs out here. I know, because I am one of them.
    
    Since the start of our magazine, I have given away more than I have time to write about. Not only monetarily, but of my heart and my true belief in what I am trying to create. When I am finished writing this, I am out the door in this frigid cold weather, on another mission. Not only will I be promoting our publication, but myself as well. I will stand out in the cold, with my Santa hat on, my Christmas stocking earrings and pass out free issues along with candy and a kind Merry Christmas to everyone I meet. I will not be paid in dollars for the frostbite or for missing my favorite television shows. I will be paid in respect. Those who see me day in and day out are starting to see what I stand for. The money may come, as we have only produced our first issue this month. Nevertheless, money cannot be the main goal of owning a business. No matter what the results may turn out to be, I have to live with who I am, what I did and what I did not do. I have to know I have given everything I could to make it work. I cannot reach my goals by being dishonest or trying to cheat people. They will see right through all that eventually, they really will. I must seek to gain the respect and trust of the community while doing what I love. If I say, I will be at a meeting at a certain time, better to get there early. If I say I am giving away a special offer with an ad, I had better have it with me next time I come calling. Whatever I say, I had better do. They are watching, waiting, and basing my future success on what I say and do. What they think of me matters. Those who put extra effort in building a good reputation will be the ones who are rewarded in the end.  Maybe my company will not make it, but I will be able to hold my head high. My main goal is to let them know they can trust me. Honesty is the best policy, always. I can name many other business owners who work hard each day building their reputations and in turn, they are building their business.  Debbie

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    Bovine Currencyposted 14 years ago

    Complete honesty is a myth

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       shazwellynposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       we all live in our own reality... this is my truth, tell me yours x

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          Bovine Currencyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          I too live in my own reality x

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    earnestshubposted 14 years ago

    I have been an honest entrepreneur for 40 odd years.
    Not hard at all, in fact it is the reason why I did well.

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    B.C. BOUTIQUEposted 14 years ago

    Its a "Dog eat Dog WORLD" my friends..when it comes to business..

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    TheGlassSpiderposted 14 years ago

    It doesn't have to be, but sometimes it seems like all you hear about is bad business.
    
    It's possible to do good, honest business. It's possible to make a good, worthwhile product without abusing people. It's possible to give customers great service and value and still make a comfortable living. I think most people notice and respect those things, and that's how one earns loyal customers.
    
    In my opinion, in the long run, integrity is one of the most valuable and profitable things a business can have.

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    Jumpnessposted 14 years ago

    There are many honest entrepreneurs. I know many. I only surround myself with entrepreneurs like that. I would say there are more dishonest people with self agendas in the corporate world.

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    rebekahELLEposted 14 years ago

    no, I don't think so, depends on the individual(s).
    there are certainly honest entrepreneurs and I know a few. I also know a couple who aren't. and guess which ones have had problems?

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    Roy McDonaldposted 14 years ago

    I think its like sales: The highest paid hard work and the lowest paid easy work...If you work at it and do everything you can to make your enterprise become what you and the community it effects the best it can be then your rewards can only be growth and success. A view of a honest entrepreneur. A view is still a view or could be considered good marketing from the enterprise or the entrepreneur, Honest - Entrepreneur? Truth and Honesty are really only in the eyes of the beholder as providing jobs could be considered as a good truth to grow an enterprise, though the community could hate what that enterprise does to the local creek or lake. That could be taken as; good - bad, honest - dishonest. There are always two side of a coin and I think that's what makes it all so interesting. I think the distinction is what are you going to do?
    Here is a man that went home from america after he did a course on economics and only sore poverty and the rich ripping off the poor, he decided to do something and he is the only entrepreneur in history to win the noble peace prize for being an entrepreneur. That is the only thing that makes us human, the ability to choose everyday we wake up in this world.
    Muhammad Yunus http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peac … s-bio.html

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