how can i start a business without cheating the people?

Question

i am very honest person.the word 'cheating'is not in my dictinorary.what kind of buisiness really suites me?

Answer 1

1) what do you mean by "cheating"?

Cheating is, by definition, always unethical; however, you shouldn't confuse profitability with cheating.

Example: My first childhood business

By accident, I happened upon a fellow that had by accident imported a large number of certain novelty ("joke") items for which he had no market. Trying to be helpful, I spoke intelligently with him for a while about how he might move them.

After a bit, I'd persuaded myself that I could sell them -- and I said so. He asked me what I'd give him for them, on the condition that I take all of them. I think he was surprised when I explained that, as a schoolboy, I had no money.

He said there were ways around that. We negotiated for a bit, and I said I had no idea what the market would bear; I didn't want to insult him with a low offer, and I didn't want to commit myself to a debt greater than I could repay.

We were at an impass, when he helped me out: he asked if I thought I could sell them for more than $1.25; I said I didn't know, but maybe.

He lowered the resale price to $1.00; again, I didn't know, but I felt it wasn't as unlikely as at $1.25. Eventually, he got down to fifty cents ("Can you sell these for fifty cents apiece?)

Keep in mind, we're talking about thousands of small items -- and I was just a schoolboy. I guessed at a percentage I thought I could sell, perhaps for something in the $1.00-$1.25 range on average -- and then figured I'd have to "eat" the rest (buy without being able to re-sell). Fifty cents per unit was about as high as I though I could average at resale.

He then asked me if I'd be willing to pay 40 cents apiece for the items -- giving me a gross profit of 20 percent of the retail price. I told him I'd think about it, but he wanted to seal the deal; he dropped the price a nickel per unit. I vividly remember that I started salivating: I had him right where he wanted me.

Ultimately, we settled on a price of 29 cents per unit (my cost); he explained to me that his cost was half that. I would get the entire lot on consignment (it worked out to be a lot like a 0% interest loan); he knew my parents, so there was no question whether he was going to get his money.

My first sale (a demo unit) was on a Friday, for $2.50; within minutes, I had 20 orders for units at $2.50. I filled the orders on Monday, and raised the price by a quarter for subsequent orders.

Even so, my price was far below what the market was willing to bear, and I was overwhelmed with orders. In an effort to slow sales, I kept raising my price; in a few weeks, I was selling identical items for $6.50.

The key, here, is that each buyer in the chain perceived the transaction as a genuine value. Although my supplier had originally thought it was going to be a bad experience for him, since he was doubling his money in short order (I paid for the entire shipment with the profits from the first few week's sales), his perception changed.

I never felt like I was being "cheated" in the sense of being forced to pay too much for something, because I knew I could sell it for more than I had in it.

My customers obviously never felt they were being ripped-off: the perceived value of the fun they derived from my products far outweighed the price I charged.

I never had a paper route or a yardscaping business: all my other ventures required a lot more in the way of planning and marketing. One of my childhood businesses refurbished items for a public utility; another repaired and sold used air conditioners (complete with a "covers everything except Acts of God or willful destruction" 2-yr warranty).

2) Of the things that you are competent to do, what are you passionate about?

Incompetence is a violation of professional ethics; in some cases, it is illegal. Of course, you'll want to consult an attorney about that. I'm not an attorney, and this isn't legal advice: it's just a well-informed lay opinion.

No, I've never pursued a venture at which I was incompetent; however, in performing research associated with due diligence, I discovered that failure to exercise due diligence was a prosecutable offense.

Everywhere you look, there is an opportunity to serve others.

Some routes are not profitable in and of themselves: your customers may be willing but unable to pay more for a product or service -- and sometimes they don't have enough to cover even the most basic capitalization and operational expenses.

In that case, the successful entrepreneur finds a way to (a) create and/or increase the funds available to them for discretionary spending -- which usually builds goodwill like you wouldn't believe; (b) subsidize the capitalization and operational expenses of the venture, so that it becomes a writeoff for another business; or, (c) both.

There are myriad variations on these themes, but you can do pretty much anything you can imagine -- without breaking any laws, and without doing anything unethical.

Almost every business is very heavily regulated by the government (federal, state, county or parish, city, etc.) -- and you will have to perform what is called "due diligence" to make sure you don't run afoul of the law.

Be aware that regulatory agencies, bureaus, commissions (etc.) have their own rules that are -- for all practical intents and purposes -- extensions of the law not subject to legislative process.

IOW, Congress (federal, state) delegates authority to an agency that invents its own limits, regulations, rules and procedures -- and sometimes more than one agency affects a single industry, often with overlapping authority and different limits.

Such practices discourage business creation and disproportionately penalize microbusinesses (under $3M annual revenue). Yeah, I thought I was doing pretty well as a child until I learned the term "small business" meant those enterprises having annual revenues between $3M and $10M.

Really, it is MUCH easier and more costly to make "an innocent mistake" than you could possibly imagine if you haven't found yourself on the wrong side of a law you never heard about and nobody told you how to find.

If you're running a complex business, you're going to get a few dings from Uncle Sam: there's just no way to know every applicable law and how it relates to your venture.

Answer 2

You can be honest and be a business person. Actually you can be very successful. You just need to find something that interests you. You will also need to find a need that the customer needs to be filled.

Cheating is essentially promising something that you don't plan to actually follow through with. Your sole intention would be to take the customers money, with no desire or care whether they are satisfied or not. The real trick is getting the most income for your service or product. Knowing your customer and market is the best way to achieve this. You can't charge $5 for an item that the market/customer is only willing or able to pay $2. If you can't make a profit selling for the market demand, then don't go into that business. If the customer wants to pay $5 for an item that you really planned to sell for $2, ask for $4 and sell the item. That's not dishonest. The customer and you both know that they wanted and you satisfied that need. If you can make a little more that's not dishonest. No business wants the customer or competitors to know exactly how much they can make. That's not dishonest, but protecting your business investment. Now if you tell everyone you only have 5% markup when in fact its 50%, that would be a problem if anyone discovered.

I think too many dishonest business people lull themselves into believing that little white lies are okay. Over time the scope of a 'little lie' becomes much wider until the point you are outright lying. Its very easy to convince yourself that a little more is okay.

Answer 3

Think of all your interests & ask yourself if any of those could be expanded into a business. Just keep in mind...what's your expertise? What are your interests? What could you imagine yourself doing?

By researching the prospect of starting your own business -- what it entails, what you need to know, helpful hints, etc -- you'll feel better prepared to take that plunge.

I found some book titles that are relevant to your specific question:

* 101 Internet Businesses You Can Start from Home by Susan Sweeney
* The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century by Paul Edwards
* Selling Online: How to Become a Successful E-Commerce Merchant by Jim Carroll
* I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It by Barbara Sher
* I Don't Know What I Want, But I Know It's Not This: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Gratifying Work by Julie Jansen
* The Best Internet Businesses You Can Start by Marian Betancourt
* The Shoestring Entrepreneur's Guide to Internet Start-Ups by Robert Spiegel
* Making a Living Without a Job : Winning Ways For Creating Work That You Love by Barbara Winter

I also posted some article links in the source box.

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 4

Health and Wellness is a great field!!!

I enjoy helping people restore their health and because the product works long term they stay healthier!!!!

The pay is, well, lets say my wife and I are making our dreams come true and also we are helping our family and friends!!!

You should see the looks on peoples faces when the product starts working and they are feeling better day-by-day!!!

Forbes Magazine did an article on the health and wellness industry, within the next 5 years in just the U.S. it will reach $1 Trillion!!!

Iam glad this product works otherwise I would not market it.

Check out some of there stories: www.viabenefits.com

Answer 5

There are any number of businesses you could start depending on your skills and interests.

As for the cheating... that depends entirely on you. Just never do anything that you know isn't right. Look at how you feel after a transaction... if you feel good, you are most likely doing OK.

Answer 6

The only way to truly be successful in business long range is to treat people great.

Sure, you can cheat in the short term and make some dough... but then you'll eventually reap what you sow.

Answer 7

any kind of business suits you. You just have to be honest thats all. Open a restaurant...

Answer 8

What kind of business suites you? How about starting your own detective agency?

Answer 9

Anything...there's always room for an honest business man or woman

Answer 10

You can specialize in something that you're good at. I myself am a consultant. You can do that and charge people a fair rate without gouging them. Good luck.