You might want to start a company one day. If you do, then you need a great idea. Once you have one, you’ll have to think about creating a business plan and getting funding.
If you get your company off the ground, you might feel proud about that. You will doubtless face many challenges, but perhaps you will succeed if you have the right business plan, strategy, funding, and a little bit of luck as well.
However, these days, entrepreneurs and CEOs might feel a little nervous. Think about the recent killing of a United Healthcare CEO that rocked the nation. Many ordinary citizens felt sympathy for the killer, which some journalists consider deplorable.
It shows that the public can turn against a company head in certain circumstances. Presumably, you want to avoid this kind of public sentiment. How can you do it, though?
We will talk about that in detail in the following article.
Don’t Make Products That Hurt People
For one thing, you can test the products that you make very carefully, assuming you make and sell physical products. If you want to talk about key reasons to hire a personal injury lawyer, product liability lawsuits frequently top that list.
Whatever kind of products you make, you must probably test them in a way that regulatory bodies say. However, you don’t need to just barely pass these sorts of quality control checks.
Do everything within your power as a CEO or entrepreneur to ensure that your products meet the most rigorous safety standards. Don’t rush them to market to try to make a profit as quickly as possible if there’s any risk that you’re getting unsafe items into the hands of consumers.
Don’t Get into an Inherently Predatory Field
You can also avoid getting into an inherently predatory field, like privatized healthcare. While many individuals reacted with shock when they heard about sympathy for the United Healthcare CEO’s killer, it’s because many people view privatized healthcare in a decidedly negative way.
You might have your own opinion about whether you should consider privatized healthcare that way or not. In reality, though, you should know what the public thinks about it.
If you get into a niche or industry that comes with a negative stigma, then regardless of what you personally think, the public will probably dislike or even hate you. As the company’s owner, CEO, or whatever other title you officially hold, if you’re the company’s public face, and the people feel you’re engaged in predatory practices, you face vitriol or even violence if you go out among the masses and someone recognizes you.
Don’t Price Gouge
You should also try to charge your customers or clients a fair price for your goods or services. In modern times, some individuals feel that certain companies have raised prices just because they can get away with it, and not because of increased operating costs.
If you are paying more for the raw materials to make your products, then you might have little choice but to raise your prices a little. If you raise the prices considerably, though, and you are doing it in an obvious way, you are probably going to face some backlash, or even boycotts.
Even if you become successful and spearhead a rising company’s initiatives, don’t feel like you should keep raising prices just to see if people will pay them. If you do that, then you will probably face backlash. Understand that many people do not have as much money as they need these days.
By keeping prices relatively low, you should win the public’s trust. You’ll also show that you’re following different practices from corporations that seem driven mainly by greed.
If Your Customers Give You Feedback, Don’t Ignore It
You can also emphasize to your customers or clients that when they tell you something, you’re willing to listen. You can do so by stating your policies clearly on your company website. You can do the same on your social media profiles. You should have a website and social media engagement as a modern company, regardless of the niche or industry in which you operate.
If a customer seems unhappy, then try to address their concerns. You probably can’t satisfy everyone 100% of the time. If you at least seem willing to engage with them, though, that can win you a lot of goodwill.
Some company owners or operators get defensive on social media or elsewhere if they’re hearing things from their customers that they don’t like. Remember that you owe your company’s position to the people. You’re the boss within your company, but the consumers ultimately dictate the success of your business.
Don’t Flout Your Wealth
If you become wealthy, then that’s great. It’s the American dream, at least for some people. If you found a company that makes a product or service that catches on with the public, then money and notoriety might soon come your way, particularly if you do an IPO at some juncture.
If your company makes it big, though, don’t flout your wealth. You might get a somewhat larger home, but when you start dating supermodels, driving million-dollar cars, and living in opulent mansions with a dozen bedrooms, you’re letting success go to your head.
Understand that people will respond negatively when you project a certain image of yourself. Think about the hatred for people like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. They’re attained unfathomable wealth, but people now despise them because they refuse to give back.
If you want the public to like you once you reach megastar status as a CEO or entrepreneur, you can follow a fairly easy formula. Give to charity. Keep your prices reasonable. Don’t get a private jet and fly all over the country in it.
If you behave like a decent human being, you should do fine. It’s when you completely lose the common touch that you’ll likely face derision, or worse.
