Having a good reputation is such an underrated part of a business. People don’t see the effects of reputation until something bad happens. When your business ends up in the news for all the wrong reasons, a massive sales decrease will happen. We see this all the time when big companies enter controversy. There was that massive Volkswagen controversy the other year, and they lost billions of dollars because of it.

No business wants to lose money, particularly for a reason as stupid as a bad reputation. Which is why you need to avoid the things on this list if you want to continue having a good rep.

Not Paying Tax

The public is very, VERY, sensitive when it comes to businesses paying tax. They hate it when they learn about companies like Starbucks not paying tax properly. It’s seen as a complete and utter disgrace if a company is finding all the loopholes possible to pay as little tax as can be. It makes sense, many ordinary people work very hard for a living, then have to pay income tax every year. So, when a business that makes ten times what they make doesn’t pay tax properly and is sneakily storing money in offshore accounts, then they hate it. Your reputation will take a massive hit, and some customers may never return. Ensure you pay tax legally and save money on tax in perfectly legal ways too.

Being Arrested/Having A Criminal Record

As the owner of your business, everything you do will reflect on your company. If you’re a charitable person that’s often seen giving back to the community, then it makes your business look better. But, if you get arrested for drunken behaviour, or have previous felony charges, then it makes your business look bad. If you ever run into trouble with the law, then you need to get a free criminal law consultation right away to work on your case. Ensure you don’t get charged, and try to keep everything under wraps before it leaks to the press and the story gets out. Everyone makes mistakes when they’d had a few drinks on a Friday night, don’t let one of your mistakes ruin your business.

Lying To Consumers

Those of you familiar with the news will know Apple suffered a big blow to their reputation recently. It was unveiled that they’d been lying to customers by tampering with batteries when updates were released. People were furious, even though Apple did this to help the phones manage the new updates without breaking. It wasn’t so much the fact they did this, it was more the fact they lied about it and kept it hidden. If you lie to consumers about anything, and they find out, your reputation could be permanently destroyed. The success of your business will be short lived, and your profits will dry up. So, in short; always be open and honest with consumers.

Are you keen to utterly ruin your good reputation? If so, then try all of the things on this list! But if you’re not insane and want to avoid damaging the reputation of your company, then avoid everything mentioned on this list. For the longevity of your business, it’s also a smart move to consider strategies like sustainability reporting, which is a total win these days. It clearly indicates that your organization is ethical and responsible. And guess what? The impact on your business reputation can be very rewarding. That’s like a turbo boost for your brand’s street cred. Right now, almost everyone appreciates sustainability in business, so your customers, investors, clients and partners, will greatly respect your business.