I seem to have a recurring theme which is – keep your personal views i.e.) politics, religion, etc. out of your business! Maybe the subject is near to me because I did spend some years with a company that mixed their religious views with their business and the outcome was never good. Ultimately the individual franchisees suffered when the parent company held views which were controversial and made it into the media. Sure it is possible that some of the franchisees agree with the views but it is also likely that a good percentage of your existing customers and potential customers do not! Why alienate someone who wants to spend money in your restaurant or other small business? And for sure there are plenty of people who will boycott your establishment if they disagree with your blatant expression of your politics or religion.

Yesterday I stopped into a local pizzeria to pick up a take-out menu. They are a long established business in a small town with less business than they should have – truth be told. As I looked around I noticed an abundance of ultra-conservative stickers on the viewing window looking into the kitchen. These stickers (bumper stickers actually) would have been offensive to what….50% of your potential customers? Why would you do that? If it is so important to get your message out there, do it somewhere else! I have no doubt that any customer who supported the president or is a registered Democrat would think before ordering and just might hit the Dominos down the road. Likewise with a liberal message the reverse would be the case.

I will not divulge my political leanings on this blog because that is not what we are about. I am holding fast to my beliefs that a wise small business person will shy away from expressing his/her personal beliefs in a way that can hurt their business.