3 Of The Most Costly Compliance Mistakes

Compliance is a form of obedience to a figure of authority. In the business world, the act of complying is a delicate matter that can have significant consequences – for better or worse, depending on the situation. 

Indeed, simply put, compliance is the complex process of making sure that your company follow the regulations standards and practices that are relevant to your industry field. Additionally, the act of managing compliance also implies that it is your business responsibility to ensure that employees and equipment are equally compliant with internal policies and laws. 

However, when you think of compliance as the process of obeying rules and practices, you soon realise there is another type of compliance in the business world, which refers to unregulated market habits. 

You’d be surprised to know that compliance is not always something to aspire to and that, in specific situations, complying could be a devastating mistake for business growth. In other cases, not complying could be the end of your business. 

When you really should comply

Specific industry sectors have their own set of compliance authorities. The FCA, for instance, is one of the most significant organisations for financial and investment service providers. Its role is to protect the integrity of the UK financial system, ensure the protection of customers and promote effective competition. Therefore, the FCA has set out strict rules for financial and insurance businesses to follow. Typically, customers are more confident about interacting with firms that are authorised by the FCA. However, the process of authorisation is painstakingly long and complex for new businesses. The FCA compliance consultants team at Scott Robert are, therefore, dedicated to helping small companies understand the requirements and training them to protect their FCA authorisation status through innovative tech solutions. Other essential regulations, such as complying with the GDPR for data protection, are not as closely monitored as financial requirements. Nevertheless, failure to comply can have dramatic consequences if businesses are found guilty of negligence. 

When you need to balance complying and not complying

The market is a world of rules, some written and some unwritten. While on the one hand, written regulations require full compliance, unwritten rules can sometimes be bent for the benefits of business growth. Indeed, market disruption, for instance, is the process of providing customers with an unexpected solution to their problems. In the words of Henry Ford, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Bringing a disruptive design to the market is all about listening to customers’ needs and ignoring their ideas of the perfect solutions. 

When not complying is your weapon

Last but not least, the business world is a universe of established norms that only exist to be ignored. Indeed, embracing the business look and feel to develop your unique presence is the worst thing you can do to your enterprise. As an individual, your uniqueness is your USP. It gives you an edge over the competition. The moment you start complying with the perceived norm, you love your advantage and can’t stand out anymore. 

To comply or not to comply, that is the question. Businesses need to establish a balance between the rules they have to obey, the rules they need to acknowledge, and the rules they should absolutely ignore. In other words, things are always a little more complicated than breaking all the rules or ticking all the boxes!