Transparency in Your Home Business Home Biz Families.com

Transparency is one of those words that pop up now and again in professional and trade articles and you may be wondering just exactly what it is and how it applies to your small, home business operation. Transparency usually goes hand-in-hand with honesty and integrity and actually refers to how we do business in that it implies that you keep everything clear and obvious. By making sure that your policies are clear and obvious and being careful not to make anything seem hidden or shady, people will be more likely to trust you and think of you as an honest business person.

Running a transparent operation means trying not to pass on hidden costs or to “sneak” things past your clients or customers. If you pitch a particular product or service and then once you are working with your customer, you start to come up with other products or services that they need to have, this is NOT being transparent. Just think of the meaning of the word—it means that you can see through something—it is clear, apparent and nothing is being shaded from view.

Transparency may seem at first glance like a technique that could hurt your business—after all, who among us wants to have our customers and clients all ‘up in our businesses’? On the other hand, if we operate with a high level of transparency, we encourage our customers and clients to trust us and they know exactly what they are in for whether they are already customers or are prospects considering whether or not to make a purchase from you. We can also avoid complaints and refunds and getting a bad reputation if we give customers and clients exactly what we have promised and they know from the very beginning what they are getting into.