Enter Business as Unusual by Anita Roddick, one of the founders of the Body Shop.

In this book she talks candidly about her experience from founding the Body Shop to making it a worldwide company.  How she never compromised her principles despite intense pressure within and without the company to stop “her silliness and get with the program”, that is, running a business with the bottom line as the only goal.  She talks about being a leader in cruelty-free cosmetics (no animal testing), recycling, encouraging others both within and outside the company to be politically active about causes they care about, and going straight to poor and underserved populations to improve their quality of life.

If you’ve resigned yourself to business as usual as exemplified by the Great Recession we’re going through, caused primarily by the myopic focus on the short-term bottom line and greed, this book is a refreshing breath of fresh air.  You can be successful, found and run a multi-million dollar international company with both principles and profits.  You do NOT have to compromise your principles in order to be successful.

If this topic is of interest to you, I highly recommend picking up Business as Unusual and giving it a read.

Have you read the book?  Have you struggled between principles and profits in your life?  Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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