We have to talk about it; the inference is all over these pages: small businesses are more ethical than large ones. Is this really true? Or is this the arrogance of someone on the fringes of big business passing judgment on companies with more complex legal and financial requirements than mine? There may be a bit of that. When I talk with small business owners, sometimes I think we pat ourselves on the back too much because we do’t work for ‘da man.

But when you dig, you find that most small businesses are dependent on larger corporations for their survival. And most owners will concede: there’s not much difference, in the end, between a micro-managing boss and a micro-managing client. Either way, they’re still running you.

But I would take it even further: at their worst, small business owners are some of the worst people on earth, dysfunctional big fish in small pond jerks that make the lives of their employees a living hell. Some of the worst experiences of my life came at the hands of small business owners drunk on their delusions. By contrast, corporate managers tend to have more light shed on their abuses, if not through performance reviews, then through competition for higher-level positions.

But when you run your own show, you have one big advantage: you don’t have to run decisions up some kind of idiotic flagpole. Example: A friend of mine was recently denied her bonus by a small-minded corporate HR department that lost sight of its purpose. It’s a sad and common story: bureaucrats and lawyers having inappropriate impact on business decisions.

Turns out I owed her a bonus too. Here the process was much simpler: I owed her a bonus so I paid her that bonus. I had the power to make an ethical choice, no rubber stamp required. My friend’s supervisor, a ranking executive, wanted to do the same thing, but she was stuck in the corporate quagmire. This leads us to the obvious: you may not be more ethical if you own your own company, but you sure have a better shot at it. If doing business according to your own values is not just b.s., but a life-or-death matter, running your own show is the way to go.

One thing I hate about “values”: most people, when they claim to admire people with conviction, are really saying that they admire people who agree with them. I know people who, based on my political views, would consider me morally corrupt based on that litmus test alone  regardless of knowing anything about how I carry myself or how I treat the people around me. This disgusts me to the point that I will eventually write about it on jonreed.net, but it has nothing to do with this book.

Back on topic: do you have to share my values to appreciate this book? No. But I do think the so-called “best practices” in Free from Corporate America are ideal for those who do have strong convictions about how they want to do business and how they want to treat their co-workers and employees. I tend to have a pretty scathing view of large corporations, American or not. I am wary of the trick that publicly-held companies have played on themselves by being totally accountable, not to discredited “mission statements,” but to bottom-line-oriented shareholders. I am kind of old-fashioned: I happen to think you can only serve one God. But you don’t have to share my views to get something from this book’s tactics.

So do you have to care about “doing business the right way” to enjoy this book? I don’t think so. But let’s face it, those who want to make a quick buck can find an easier path than the one I’ve laid out here. It makes me sick when I hear that those that don’t do business ethically end up failing in the end. That doesn’t jive with what I’ve seen. Sometimes your bad deeds in business catch up with you, sometimes not.

There’s a bunch of Enron and WorldCom millionaires roaming around out there, coming soon to a putting green near you. Token convictions aside, most of these cream-skimmers haven’t done a day of jail time. You don’t do business the right way because it’s easier; you do it because you have a passion for treating people a certain way and will not be denied. As for those who have deluded themselves into believing there’s no way to succeed in business without selling out (members of my own family included), I hope those grapes aren’t too sour.

Want to buy Free From Corporate America or see reviews of the final published version from readers like yourself? The printed book is now available on Amazon.com with product reviews.

You can also get a discounted version of the final book in eBook (PDF) format, or you can pick up a copy on the Kindle. The published version of the book is significantly enhanced from the web version available on this site.