The Journey of Trust: Who to Trust and Why

One major problem that young entrepreneurs and business owners face is knowing who to trust as they build business relationships. Within the past ten years, there have been countless instances when big name companies spiraled downhill due to greed and dishonesty. The problem with fraudulent practices in business is the idea that instant gratification is the way to succeed. This idea is simply not true, however. Those who participate in dishonest activities make becoming successful look easy, but almost every time there is fraud in a business, it collapses. Dishonest activities do not only happen on the local scale. Lies and scams happen all throughout the business scale from corporate America and even down to your local farmers market. In 2012, Scott Thompson resigned from his position as CEO of Yahoo after the media publicized a discrepancy in his resume. Scott claimed to have earned a degree in Computer Science, a qualification that played a large hand in his hiring. When it came out that this was false information, Scott had to resign. We can learn from Scott Thompson’s story that even people high up in large corporations practice dishonesty. For this reason, it is so important that young business owners learn to decipher the trustworthy people from the scammers. Here is a list of questions that every young entrepreneur should ask themselves before extending trust in any business connection.

Extend Smart Trust

First, you need to analyze the person you are going to trust. Asking yourself these questions will help you determine how trustworthy the person or company is.

What would their motivation be to take advantage of me?

Showing signs that you extend trust easily can be a red flag for people who are trying to take advantage of you or your services. Consider all the reasons that this person might have for taking advantage of you. Once you have addressed all the possibilities, it will be easier for you to recognize if they do try to take advantage of you.

What risks am I taking by trusting this person?

Extending trust makes you vulnerable. Vulnerability is not always a bad thing, however. Many times, you must be vulnerable in order to achieve what you want or need to succeed. Make sure that becoming vulnerable to this person will not end up harming you in any way.

What are the possible outcomes that can come from this relationship?

Your trust is a valuable thing, so treat it like so. If you are completely trusting someone and not getting much in return, you may want to reconsider the relationship. You need to make sure that the relationships  you place the most trust in return the most assets.

How credible is the person I am trusting?

Credibility is key in business relationships. Take Scott Thompson for example. He was a highly acclaimed CEO of a huge corporation, but when he was discredited of his achievements he lost all respect and credibility. Do not put yourself in a situation like this one. Be cautious in trusting people and always make sure you know their story.

How accountable is this person?

Accountable people always follow through with their commitments. If problems arise, they find a way to make it up to the person wronged. It is as simple as that. Accountable people are easier to work with, so building accountable relationships will carry you a lot farther. These are the basic questions that you need to ask yourself when starting up your own business relationships. These analysis questions can save young entrepreneurs huge headaches later on in their career. Building smart trust relationships from the beginning will ensure that your business affairs will carry on smoothly. This article was co-written by Laurel Clarke of Ewebify and Kelly Baker of KBO Payment Processing.  KBO Payment Processing provides merchant account services and debit card and credit card processing services. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com