Lesson 1 - 'Good intentions'

Lesson 1 is actually not the first lesson that we have learned so far along the journey but it is as good a place to start as any.

The lesson really is simple "Never let good intentions cloud your judgement" Sounds easy enough but this is not always so straight forward when you are running an ethical enterprise. Along the journey of starting any kind of production it is necessary to establish relationships with other businesses. These relationships are often simple, they have something you want and you buy it from them or visa versa. The agreement is conditional on a price and standard along with any ethical stipulations that you have mapped out for the conduct of the business (we will get round to these another time).

Sometimes however (and this is often the case for a start-up business) a relationship must start on the basis of 'good faith'. This is where there is an intention in principal to work together pending funding, equipment etc. During this stage where there is only a 'good faith' agreement much time and money can be taken up moving all parties towards a position of 'take off'. This is where the lesson comes in.

Our experience is of forming one such 'good faith' relationship with a key ethical supplier who appeared to be the answer to all our prayers. Both in terms of ethics and of experience. However we made a few key mistakes along the way. Not mistakes that resulted in the breakdown of a good relationship but mistakes that failed to identify how unworkable the relationship ultimately was. 1)We did not pressure our supplier for accurate quotes, 2)we did not criticize shoddy samples harshly enough, 3)and we did not assert our own needs for the dynamic of the relationship forcefully enough.

I use the term 'we' loosely, Rose was infact away for much of these mistakes so it was 'I' that was failing on all these counts. (Her's was simply a failure to be around doing what she is good at). In fact within a couple of weeks of Rose's return she had picked up all the loose ends of the supplier agreement and ultimately exposed the fact that the relationship was unworkable. A fact that could have been established months ago if I was a bit more like her or she was bloody around! (Me thinks lesson 2 will have to be 'Ethical business teams - Knowing your skills)'

Having taken the blame for this I feel I must defend my position. I am in life and in business an utterly optimistic person. I always play to the best case scenario - Rose plays to the worst. It is perhaps not suprising to her then, that every demand that I failed to make on our supplier turned out to be the end of a sparling wick leading to a bomb. I put faith in their abilities without having them proved. I put faith in their pricing without demanding breakdown of costs, I put faith in their ability to learn, despite numerous warnings. And on all these counts I was wrong to do so.

Why did I have faith? Because they are ethical and I wanted to help them to achieve the worthwhile goals that they are striving for. Becasue I let my good intentions hide the reality that they neither should or could go into business with a company like us. Or infact anyone for the time being - they are not ready.

So to summarise this lesson - Good intentions are not enough. All parties need to be able to proove their abilities and their commitment to the project. It is not unethical to make demands on suppliers, being supportive is about helping your suppliers to realise their potential and not to forgive unneccesary failings. Vulnerable suppliers are not vulnerable because they are not skilled, they are vulnerable because they are bullied by powerful businesses. Ethical busienss is about changing this dynamic and proving that another way is possible. In order to make these changes on a larger sacle, ethical businesses must prove that they are capable and sustainable and in every way 'better' than their unethical counterparts.

In this struggle intentions are key but ability is paramount.