I own a small manufacturing company with 45 employees. Business is tough right now—margins are razor thin and a competitor just undercut our prices by 15%. They can do it because they pay minimum wage and offer no benefits. I pay above market and offer health insurance. My employees have been with me for years. But I'm bleeding money. My accountant says I need to cut wages or lay off 10 people to survive. My competitor's owner sleeps fine at night. I believe treating workers well is the right thing to do—and I thought it was also good business. But now I'm not sure I can afford my values. Do I compromise my principles to survive, or hold firm and potentially go under? — Nice Guys Finishing Last in Louisville

From Historical Figures Collection

"Business success and ethical behavior are compatible—but require innovation"

I built my companies on fair treatment because I believed it produced better work—and it did. But I also innovated constantly. Perhaps your problem is not your wages but your products. Can you differentiate on quality? On service? On relationships your competitor cannot match? Ethics without strategy is charity.

From An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations

"Self-interest, properly channeled, serves the common good—but markets require moral foundations"

The invisible hand works, but not in isolation. Markets require justice and fair dealing to function well. Your competitor may win this quarter, but businesses built on exploitation often fail in time. The question is whether you can survive long enough to see that day. Perhaps partial compromise—small cuts now—preserves both principles and company.