The ethics of business and yoga

After many many years of owning a yoga studio I realize that it is a business and that I do need to make a living.  But I have found that what is most important is to do the right thing.  And we all know what the right thing to do is.  If we are making a bad choice that is intentionally hurting someone else, we know it.

Whether it is giving a free class to someone in need, contributing to charities, being kind to your neighbor, or treating your business associates with respect,  you know you are doing the right thing.

Being selfish, taking something that is not yours, being dishonest or not forthright to someone (business associate or not), you know you are doing the wrong thing.

It is actually a pretty simple concept.

In the spirit of yoga we need to be aware of how we treat people.  It is not always about how will this benefit me, in fact you should think how will this impact others.   When you make the right choices things will usually come back to you in a positive way.  When you ethically and morally do the wrong thing........  Not so good.

Dealing with a few large online yoga supply companies I can say without hesitation that Yogadirect.com does that right thing time and time again.  Other companies?  hmmmmmmmmmm

In the spirit of yoga lets try and treat people the way we would like to be treated.  Again a very simple concept.

The ethics of business and yoga?  Just do the right thing, don't take something that isn't yours, be respectful, kind and honest.  Pretty simple concept.

Big Business - Small Business

O.K. so imagine this....... You create a one of a kind product (6 ft round yoga mat). It has taken you forever to source the material, figure out how to cut it, create a logo, have many classes on prototypes that you made and then find out from students what they would like to have on the mat to delineate the quadrants. So you start making them for your students, then others want them. you create a website, make a DVD, start selling them on a website. A large online yoga props supply company comes along and says "hey we would love to carry your mats" hmmmmmmm O.K. they seem like good guys. You get a good relationship going, start talking about drop shipping so they can spend more on promoting your product.... 8 months later after they have sold about 100 of your mats, no phone call, no e-mail, they take your idea and start to make another round mat like yours and are able to sell it for less because they can get the material for less, have more advertising, more money to advertise, need I say more...........

Mandalayogamat.com is the original 6 ft round yoga mat. Created by a dedicated yogi and her brother, each mat made with love and care. A grass roots company wanting to bring yoga to more people and help them create a more expressive practice.

The other company, in my opinion, has no morals and no respect for the people that they do business with.  That is my opinion from my experience with them.  All they would have needed to do would be to answer my e-mail or phone and say thanks for supplying us with your mats but we have now decided to make our own.  But there was no communication.

Do any of those people even practice yoga? Do they treat each other the way they treat their suppliers?????  Is it that important to make those extra dollars on a mat sale to treat another person with such disrespect?

I knew that another round mat would come out on the market, it is all good, I just didn't expect it to be with the company we were supplying to.

You decide...... Big business - small business..... who do you want to support?