Man says he figured out his friend’s business suppliers from their conversations, starts his own successful business copying his pal’s idea

SINGAPORE — A man who copied his friend’s business idea and went to the same suppliers took to social media asking others if this was ethical.

In an anonymous post to popular confessions page SGWhispers, the man wrote that his close friend runs a successful e-commerce business. He added that his friend had even shared with him how he ran the business and sourced for suppliers.

“Recently I decided to set up my own business selling similar things as him and based on what he’s shared before I was able to figure out who his suppliers are and how to reach them. Hence I managed to set up the business with ease”, the man wrote.

He added that he was not expecting to do well at first because of stiff competition and players in the market who were already established, but using his friend’s method, he managed to bring in decent profits within the first month.

“Due to the success there were times I felt bad and guilty for copying my friend’s business idea and capitalized on the stuff he’s shared. Until today he still doesn’t know we are competitors. Do you guys think this behavior of me is ethical? Should I continue feeling bad or is it a fair game since business ideas get copied all the time?” the man wrote.

Netizens who commented on his post were not in favour of his actions and criticised him for stealing his friend’s ideas.

Here’s what they said: