Should You Share Your Personal Beliefs As a Business Owner?

You’d have to be living under a rock not to be aware of the Supreme Court ruling here in the U.S. last week.

Last week’s Supreme Court ruling has stirred volatile emotions here in the U.S. It’s also brought up a pretty valid question for home business owners:

Should you share your personal beliefs and feelings as a business owner?

The answer is as complicated as the emotions surrounding this latest court ruling. The short answer is that it all depends on what you feel comfortable with. But let’s discuss it a bit. 

As a business, whether you are providing services to other businesses or you’re selling products to individuals, you know that your clients and customers may not have the same opinion about things as you do. That means that you also need to remain aware that when you publicly share your feelings or your stance on things, it comes with the inherent risk of alienating or angering one or more of those clients/customers.  

Does this mean the smart thing to do is keep your personal opinions quiet? It depends. 

For some people, keeping their personal ideals and opinions to themselves in order to keep from losing clients/customers makes the most sense. They have no problem separating their work persona and their personal persona. In fact, a lot of business experts will tell you this is the smartest way to deal with it as a business owner. 

Then there is the other side of the coin.

Some business owners feel that it’s important to stay true to themselves and the things that they believe in. They feel it’s less than genuine to ignore issues that they feel are important and feel that the possibility of losing a few clients or customers is worth being true to themselves and making a stand for what they believe in. In recent years, many big businesses have gone this route and attest to the fact that although some of their clients/customers got angry and left, they gained many more who align with the same principles they do. 

So what should YOU do?

I think that the most important thing in this equation is YOU. How are you going to feel keeping your personal ideals to yourself? Is it going to cause mental or emotional distress? Are you going to regret not using whatever platform you have to take a stand for what you believe in? If you share your thoughts and feelings, can you handle losing clients, customers, followers, etc.? Are you prepared for critical or even hateful responses?  Are you ready to possibly be overwhelmed with new contacts, clients, and customers who align with your ideals? 

I believe there is no right way or wrong way here. The right way is what you feel is best for you. And never forget that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can remain verbally silent about your beliefs while supporting organizations, etc. that align with your ideals. Personally, you can be active in working for change, while not broadcasting it to your business community.  Do be aware, however, that anytime you’re active in a cause, the possibility exists of those in your business circles becoming aware even if you aren’t talking about it in your business community. 

A few years ago, I decided that for myself, it didn’t work for me to stay silent. It caused me more stress and emotional distress to stay silent, so I determined that if a client disagreed with something I did or said, I was ok with that. One of the big reasons for that is because I knew I’d been pretty picky about whom I chose as clients for years. Most of my clients shared the same ideals and concerns. Did I lose clients? A couple. But within a few months, I’d gained even more. For me, this was the right decision. Not everyone is in that same situation. 

As the saying goes, you do you. Because in the end, you know what is best for you, and ultimately your business.

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