How to succeed in US business

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Rip off your customers.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.co...Guide/weston-4-reasons-we-get-ripped-off.aspx

I liked this article so I thought I'd post it. It sums up what I'm scared are becoming the dominant tactics to running a successful business in the US. And it's what I hear conservative-types supporting when they chant for less regulation and government involvement in business. Now granted, if consumers were more on the ball then maybe less regulation would be OK, but obviously they're not and the tricks are getting trickier. For whatever reason the growing trend of getting fleeced doesn't seem incentive enough to get them there.

And because it's related, here's a short clip of Elizabeth Warren talking about the banking fiasco, ripping folks off, and screwing up so big you get rewarded for it. Think of it as a training video for folks in the financial industry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2kfAr2h5NE&feature=player_embedded

 

[StageLeft]

Step 1: Incorporate your business
Step 2: Raise some money
Step 3: Hire some Lobbyists
Step 4: Create/dismantle laws to support your business
Step 5: Profit

 

[StageLeft]

Now granted, if consumers were more on the ball then maybe less regulation would be OK, but obviously they're not and the tricks are getting trickier.

Yep, but when you are of average knowledge/intelligence and others who are experts are being paid to deliberately deceive you out of money it gets at some point beyond the point where it's really your fault. E.g. you sign a contract and the company that wrote it has a law firm on retainer that wrote the 15 page thing. Are you really going to hire your own lawyer for $1000 to read every single contract you sign? So much legalese it's ridiculous.

 

[BoberFett]

Regulation will never prevent people from being ripped off. Scam artists will always be one step ahead of regulations, because regulations are always reactive and not proactive. Focus on punishing wrong-doers appropriately and focus on educating people so they can think for themselves rather than creating millions of laws that are so complicated that those who do not intend to scam their customers go bankrupt just trying to follow the regs.

 

[StageLeft]

Regulation will never prevent people from being ripped off. Scam artists will always be one step ahead of regulations, because regulations are always reactive and not proactive. Focus on punishing wrong-doers appropriately and focus on educating people so they can think for themselves rather than creating millions of laws that are so complicated that those who do not intend to scam their customers go bankrupt just trying to follow the regs.

That's what the laws, do though; without regulation there is no capacity to punish a wrong-doer because their action was not considered wrong by the law. We can't dismiss the power of psychology and marketing, which I feel on a visceral level increasingly "compels" people to do things. I must be right, there is an awful freaking lot of marketing thrown our way so it certainly does something.

 

[highland145]

"We've got the laws on the books against unfair and deceptive trade practices," Sullivan said. "But no one is going after the people who lie, cheat and steal."

Laws with no enforcement....Useless. A few years ago Ga. was way behind on tax collections because of cheats. Solution..hire 200 more auditors. Worked well.

 

[StageLeft]

"I teach contract law at Harvard law school and I cannot even understand my own credit card [contract]" hehe

 

[Atreus21]

Sounds like there's demand for honest companies.

Who will fill it?

 

[shortylickens]

I used to have the attitude that ripping of your customers was a bad thing, then I realized that its pretty much the customers fault. There are already plenty of laws to make sure that the American public isnt outright abused. Anything else is just their stupidity and ignorance. GM is a perfect example. They made shitty, overpriced cars for years and people still bought them. Given all the easy access we have to information showing how horrible GM vehicles were, theres no reason any sane American should have been buying them. But they sold great. Made a profit for many years until their bullshit finally caught up with them.

Once I read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and I got a whole new outlook. I can either be one of the people who gets raped on products & services, or I can be one of the people doing the raping. Its my choice.
Simply from a math standpoint it makes sense to be the raper, not the rapee.

 

[PingSpike]

Sounds like there's demand for honest companies.

Who will fill it?

Entrenched interests will use their lobbyists to change laws and cripple the new honest competitors. If that doesn't work, they will just outright purchase them and shut down/absorb them.

 

[highland145]

Sounds like there's demand for honest companies.

Who will fill it?

I run my own business and, as far as I am concerned, am about as straight up as it gets. And I do have repeat loyal customers because of it. But others in the same industry make more $$ by having questionable ethics. At the end of the day, what wins out? $$ or ethics. Shareholders want $$.

 

[highland145]

Simply from a math standpoint it makes sense to be the raper, not the rapee.

Most of would rather not be the rapee.

 

[StageLeft]

I used to have the attitude that ripping of your customers was a bad thing, then I realized that its pretty much the customers fault. There are already plenty of laws to make sure that the American public isnt outright abused. Anything else is just their stupidity and ignorance. GM is a perfect example. They made shitty, overpriced cars for years and people still bought them. Given all the easy access we have to information showing how horrible GM vehicles were, theres no reason any sane American should have been buying them. But they sold great. Made a profit for many years until their bullshit finally caught up with them.

Once I read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and I got a whole new outlook. I can either be one of the people who gets raped on products & services, or I can be one of the people doing the raping. Its my choice.
Simply from a math standpoint it makes sense to be the raper, not the rapee.

If you watch the vid Warren says how many orgs there are to protect people but very scant on financial ones, which have huge impacts on people. Gov group to make sure the toy you buy for your kid is safe but not one to tell you in plain text that Citi is fvcking you with the credit card offer they just sent you.

 

[nobodyknows]

In the "free market system" it will always be the best cheater who wins. Everybody knows this.

 

[k3n]

in the "free market system" it will always be the best cheater who wins. Everybody knows this.

qfmft

 

[Dissipate]

Moral of the story: become a sociopath.

 

[Double Trouble]

Rip off your customers.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.co...Guide/weston-4-reasons-we-get-ripped-off.aspx

I liked this article so I thought I'd post it. It sums up what I'm scared are becoming the dominant tactics to running a successful business in the US. And it's what I hear conservative-types supporting when they chant for less regulation and government involvement in business. Now granted, if consumers were more on the ball then maybe less regulation would be OK, but obviously they're not and the tricks are getting trickier. For whatever reason the growing trend of getting fleeced doesn't seem incentive enough to get them there.

And because it's related, here's a short clip of Elizabeth Warren talking about the banking fiasco, ripping folks off, and screwing up so big you get rewarded for it. Think of it as a training video for folks in the financial industry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2kfAr2h5NE&feature=player_embedded

Why is it that you think the answer to such things is more government involvement? Stupid people will always get ripped off, no matter what government does. Enforce the rules that exist, and stupid consumers are just going to have to learn from their mistakes or continue to get ripped off.

I always hear people griping about phone companies and how unfair the termination fees are.... yet those same idiots are in line the next week to purchase the next cool phone and get hooked into yet another rip-off contract. If you want to go ahead and get ripped off, that's fine, but then stop whining about it.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Why stop there? Why should the government get involved when someone's home is robbed who didn't have alarm? Or someone's wallet is stolen that's not chained to their belt? Damn stupid people, how dare they let themselves be taken advantage of by unscrupulous folks. The intent to rob is a constitutional right!

 

[highland145]

Why stop there? Why should the government get involved when someone's home is robbed who didn't have alarm? Or someone's wallet is stolen that's not chained to their belt? Damn stupid people, how dare they let themselves be taken advantage of by unscrupulous folks. The intent to rob is a constitutional right!

As an aside, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28scotus.html . The Po-Po don't "have" to do squat. Kind of like the govt is doing enforcing the laws on the books.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Less government involvement, woohoo! Take that you socialists!

 

[soulcougher73]

I run my own business and, as far as I am concerned, am about as straight up as it gets. And I do have repeat loyal customers because of it. But others in the same industry make more $$ by having questionable ethics. At the end of the day, what wins out? $$ or ethics. Shareholders want $$.

Ahh the good ole stock market. Im all for abolishing that as well. It causes more harm then good in my book. Their are other avenues if you want capitol to grow your business.

 

[ElFenix]

Only 42% of American adults surveyed could add the cost of two items on a menu (one cost 60 cents and the other cost $1.95) and then figure a 10% tip.

jeebus

 

[StageLeft]

jeebus

$2.65, right?

 

[theeedude]

US is turning into a nation where middlemen and scammers get majority of rewards, while the people creating value get hosed. This creates a talent drain from productive professions to parasitic ones, and in the long term creates an incentive system that hurts the overall economy. You get the best minds dedicated to creating financial instruments and schemes to get bigger piece of the pie instead of engineering things that will grow the pie.

 

[highland145]

Ahh the good ole stock market. Im all for abolishing that as well. It causes more harm then good in my book. Their are other avenues if you want capitol to grow your business.

Quit putting $$ in after I got burned on Cisco, 2001. That is a place where Americans are getting screwed. The market goes down and traders still get $$$. WTF?

Personally, I saved, bought/sold rentals, borrowed from the fam when I opened up. The joke-SBA wouldn't give me the time of day. I wasn't the right....something....to get federal loans.