Is the online business world becoming the new version of a sweatshop? It’s time to check your morals as a business owner

How you treat people and represent your business should be an active and fair part of any business. Whether you’ve just started your business, you’re growing a team or you’re well-established. 

And as online business owners, we have a responsibility to check our morals. 

Since 2020, Diversity Equity and Inclusion is still having  a bit of a moment in the ‘real world’ but I feel like it’s missed (or even overlooked), in the online business world. 

This could quickly become an issue and although there are definitely business owners in this space who are socially and morally conscious, there are also many people who don’t think this applies to them because they aren’t in an office or some big cooperation like Google. But it does apply to them and to be honest, ignoring them is like a new wave of colonialism.

Before I explain my thought processes on all of this, I want to make it clear that I’m not by any means a DEI expert. However, I’ve done a lot of personal development around this specific topic over the last two years and I’ve also done a lot of listening. As a result of this, I feel like as a white woman, my job is to listen, absorb and work within myself before I externalize. And I feel I’ve done enough of that work to start calling certain things out. 

Today I’m going to be predominantly talking about something that might be a bit controversial but I think it needs to be said.

The online business world is becoming the new version of a sweatshop. 

Now I’ve dropped the controversial bomb…

Let’s get into it.

Money Talk

As an online business owner myself I understand that you need to make sure that you are still making a profit when you start hiring team members or want to build an agency. 

But as I’ve built my agency, there are some principles I haven’t, and won’t ever, budge on. Especially when it comes to hiring team members.

One of these is that I won’t pay people less than 20 USD per hour, no matter where in the world they live because I just don’t think anything below that is worth their time! 

Because of this, I’ve had to make different decisions for my business because my profit margins aren’t as heavy. But this is worth it for me for one big reason; I don’t feel like I’m exploiting anyone.

I’ve had so many conversations over the years with other business owners saying that it’s cheaper to hire a firm in India for $4 per hour and yeah, sure, it is. I’ve come into contact with overseas agencies in Asia and India myself who have offered to do work for only $9 per hour but I’ve always said no. Because if the agency is charging me that, how much are the workers getting paid?

And even if the workers are happy to be paid that because it’s the ‘norm’ in their country, that isn’t the point. Personally, I feel like if you work with those agencies you’re contributing to the classist system. 

If your response to this is that you can’t afford to hire unless you pay them significantly less, then the reality is, you can’t afford to hire!

If this is the case then you need to start looking at your business structure and your offers; Are you charging enough? How can you add more so you can increase the price? Is your marketing system doing enough to bring in new leads? Do you need to adjust your pricing so it works as an agency model? 

And if your offers aren’t the issue; revisit your systems and tech tools. Are they doing the work you need them to? Could you automate more or invest in new software? 

There are other ways to adjust so you can pay people what they deserve. 

Actively Working Towards Better

In the ‘real’ world, diversity and inclusion are everywhere because they can be scrutinized by other organizations and the public. Therefore it’s written into contracts, it’s in companies’ about pages and they hire and work with a diverse range of clients and people. As they should. 

I think it’s easy to believe that because you’re a small business or are operating in the online space, you don’t have an impact and the same principles shouldn’t apply to you but this isn’t the case. 

Every decision you make, especially when it comes to hiring and training a team, impacts lives. So it’s important to be conscious of how you do this. Especially when it’s human nature to work with and hire people who think and look like you. But this doesn’t help us to grow or lift up other communities and cultures.

Diversify your team and your portfolio, I promise it will benefit your business. 

Increasing Representation in Your Business

Making sure you are making a conscious effort to diversify your business and pay fairly isn’t the only way to make sure you increase representation in your business.

There are other things we need to be doing to make sure we’re lifting our weight. 

Things like making sure your stock photos include people of different races, cultures, and genders or publicly supporting days and events like Indigenous People’s day or Pride can go a long way. 

If you are able to, you should do more for pay equity in your business too. Could you offer a scholarship to those in marginalized groups? Could you raise money for charity or organizations to support people who need it? And if you aren’t at this stage yet, how can you plan to get there? 

This is not only beneficial for those who work for you or with you and outside communities, but it’s a great marketing move too. Research shows that more and more people, especially Gen Z, are paying attention to those who are socially active rather than just socially conscious.

If you’ve read this article and it made you feel a bit called out, or like maybe you weren’t doing enough, good! Growth often comes from an uncomfortable place and there is no shame in admitting you aren’t doing enough if you now set out to do better. 

Feel free to reach out if you want to find more ways to be more socially active and ethically check your business because I know several incredible people who will be able to help and I’d love to share their information with you.  

Let’s discuss in the comments whether you feel like the online business world is becoming the new version of a sweatshop.