Ethics are codes, values or rules that govern those practices of a person and profession. Ethics are a standard of behavior by which a person’s conduct is judged. These codes dictate how we should manage our business and ourselves. In business, an ethical individual feels compelled to behave according to the rules of moral personal and business principles.

As a farrier and small business owner, you need to base your decisions on ethical standards and moral values that you maintain for your farrier business. By following carefully designed ethical codes of conduct, you’ll have the best opportunity for achieving and sustaining personal and business success. Think of these as your business principles for having a higher standard of conduct.

There are many ethical issues that can arise in operating any small business, including a farrier business. An understanding of the different types of ethical issues will help you to identify and handle these situations responsibly to maintain your core personal and business values.

There are two significant factors that influence a person’s ethical decisions. The first is an individual’s personal moral philosophy, such as your own values, knowledge, attitude and intentions. These factors are believed to influence most personal decisions. The second is opportunity resulting from the absence of professional codes of conduct or ethics, or from punishment that may encourage unethical decision-making.

Develop Your Professional Code

As we know, the United States farrier industry is not a licensed profession. So nationally, our industry does not have a universal code…