How to have Machiavellian business

Intro

A great book to read is The Prince. It teaches you how you sometimes got to be cruel to win. You can't always be a saint if you want to succeed. The 100% honest, moral person will not get the market share. Just look at politics and the huge corporations. You should buy The Prince to get a better understanding of reality. 

Tell your customers what they want to hear

If you look at politics, you will see that politicians lie for their gains. A honest politician will tell the mass to get off their ass and work for what they want but the mass don't want to hear that. They want to hear that it is not their fault but the rich. They can't do anything about it so they are entitled to the rich's wealth. The mass will always blame but them self. You can take advantage of that. If you are a bank that loans money, tell them it is not their fault that they got into debt and that you will help them. In reality you are getting them more into debt.

Don't believe what your customers say 

Also the mass lie about what they want. You should study their behavior, not what they say. Your costumers may say they want change but in reality, they don't want change and will complain if you do. If they say they want more red pen but purple are selling the most, stock up on more purple pen and decrease the stock of red pen. Don't listen to what they have to say unless it is double checked. 

Be feared but also loved 

You should create some fear in your business. Don't go extreme on this. All of my advice should be put in to moderation but this one especially. Say they will loose 20% discount on all future phones if they don't buy the new one. They will buy it out of fear of losing the discount. Also make sure your customers love you. Provide free goodies that you couldn't get with other company. Treat them well. 

Appear moral

Also you should appear kind-heated, moral and honest even if you aren't. Give money to charities, make sure you appear honest and hire someone else to do your dirty work. This way you appear honest and you have someone else to do the dirty work so you don't appear as immoral.

Summary 

This is some of the ways to having a Machiavellian business. This should again be taken into moderation and be used if needed. You don't want to use this a lot as you want to have a good reputation. The more you use this, the more people will find out about your misdeed unless you know how to use it without being caught. This is not bad and government and corporation use it but they know how to use it. Some times you have to push in front of the line to get to the where you want quicker.