Let’s face it: Business is tough.

But it’s supposed to be. Sure, figuring out your business plan, determining whether or not to hire an accountant or PR firm, sourcing suppliers and vendors, remodeling (online and off), managing staff and figuring out some way to afford advertising - all while creating a work-life balance – are difficult things to do.

And Grow My Business offers ideas and advice on how to master this process.

Still…there’s tough, and then there’s tough.

The truly tough part of business, and business success, is knowing when to do the “right” thing. And not just knowing when to do it, but doing it, despite the risk or costs.

Exhibit A: Google China, anyone?

In exchange for the ability to offer its service in China, Google infamously agreed to the Chinese Government’s demands that Google self censor its content. Which is, of course, pretty much counter to the entire point of Google’s service in the first place, right?

But they went ahead with it, much controversy ensued, as did lots and lots of public disfavor, and…Senate hearings!

And now, after all the headaches, all the hassles and all the bad PR, Google cofounder Sergey Brin stated that complying with China’s censorship demands for Google China may not have been such a great idea after all.

So how did Google – whose rally cry is “Do no evil,” – ever decide that compromising its service was OK in the first place? It’s not like Google needed the money, or the exposure. How about justifying it on the basis of needing to be forward-thinking? After all, every business needs to be forward thinking, right?

Not at the expense of core values. Not at the expense of mission. Not at the expense of inspiration.

It’s not hard to make the right decision when there’s nothing to lose, but compromise can look more palatable with a little extra sugar.

The trick to really, truly truly succeeding in small business is doing it on your own terms, and making sure that you can live with the tough decisions in the long term.

Why would you want to do it any other way? After all, it’s your small business, right?

Actually, maybe doing the right thing isn’t so tough after all.

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