Independent Thinking » Workflow

“Just Because” is a Stupid Way to Run a Business

Daria Steigman — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:02:13 +0000

It’s a new year, but are you still doing the “same old, same old?”

I wrote recently about knowing when to fold–giving up a product or a service or even a business development strategy that’s run its course. But there’s another thing business owners need to consider: what might be working, but doesn’t make sense.

This can show up in the people you engage with and the processes you follow. For example:

Are you loyal to an accountant, a lawyer, or even an insurance agent who does an okay job year after year rather than making the switch to someone who will really shine? (For the record, I have an awesome accountant if you need one.)
Do you keep using that cumbersome e-mail marketing system or time-management software rather than switching to something faster and more user-friendly?
Are you still faxing documents because you don’t have an electronic signature on file? (Oops, that’s me.)

Make every business action a conscious choice (not “just because”).

A case in point: My condominium association raises the parking fee by $5 every other year. But no one knows why they’re doing it. It’s just what they do. What they’ve done. You know why they’re doing it? Because over 10 years ago when I was condo board president I said I thought it was ridiculous to nickel and dime people with $2 and $3 raises. Somehow that translated into the current “policy.”

It’s a good practice to evaluate your business processes and policies from time to time. Now I’m off to find a scanner.

Photo by Evelyn Giggles (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

Three Words for 2012: Crayons and Continuity

Daria Steigman — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 07:02:24 +0000

For 2012, I’ve decided that I don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

Last year, I picked out 3 little words–crayons, velcro, and abandon–to guide my business. The whole point was to keep me focused on moving forward, while giving myself permission to take risks again. And to have fun and be creative.

I found the right guiding principles.

Since “a continuous or connected whole” (aka, continuity) is an asset, I’m going to keep these words front and center for another year.

What are your guiding principles for 2012?

Photo by evoo73 (Flickr).

Books, Velcro, and Celebrating Success

Daria Steigman — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 08:03:21 +0000

How do you measure success?

There’s a lot of conversation around business success, what it means, and how to measure it. (And we probably talk even more sometimes about lazy metrics and poor measurement.)

I’m not going to talk about measurement at all today. Just success. Because sometimes you need to celebrate the small victories.

One of my 2011 goals was to read more business books. I set two goals: (1) to read at least one book a month about business, entrepreneurship, and/or marketing communications; and (2) to review a book a month.

Velcro helps.

Velcro was one of my three little words for 2011. In a blog post to start the year, I wrote:

I’m good at coming up with ideas, but sometimes I need more focus to see them come to fruition… I need to keep the velcro handy to keep me locked in.

It worked. I started the year thinking about how 21st century businesses are putting the power of collaboration and openness to work. I also read about what makes a good entrepreneur and how to tap into your entrepreneurial DNA, received tips on how businesses can leverage social media to thrive, and ended the year thinking about being weird.

12 Books for 12 Months

Here’s what was on my 2011 reading list:

As for 2012? I have four books in the queue, including Mastering Uncertainty and The Introvert’s Guide to Business. Stay tuned.

What successes are you celebrating as 2011 draws to a close?

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt (Flickr).

Are You Counting the Pills?

Daria Steigman — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:04:49 +0000

I always count the pills.

And the widgets. (And pretty much anything I buy “by the numbers.”) It’s not that I expect any problems, it’s just that I want to make sure I’m getting what I pay for when it comes to products bought in open bulk.

When it comes to medications, it seems there’s a lot of miscalculation going on. After my mom received 25 percent fewer pills than should have been in a bottle recently, she warned everyone she knows. Several people e-mailed immediately to say they’ve had the same problem.

Meds cost big bucks. Per pill.

My old bank said “it’s only pennies” when I asked them to credit back interest they owed me because of a screw-up at their end. Yes, but they’re my pennies.

Add my pennies to your pennies and a whole lot more customers, and you can see how the dollars start to add up.

I don’t know how often it’s a quality control problem versus a deliberate strategy of spreading out the inventory. But I know as a business owner that I don’t want my customers asking that question.

Who’s counting the pills in your business?

Photo by Dominique Godbout (Flickr).

Why Tablets Are the Next Big Thing

Daria Steigman — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:04:39 +0000

Amazon just unveiled the Kindle Fire, a lower-priced entry into the tablet market that seems to be more e-reader than productivity tool. Add that to the Vizio tablet, which sports a more conventional Android interface, and tablet wars may be coming to a superstore near you.

Of course, it didn’t take Amazon to tell me that tablets are the next big thing.

Here are two stories, one business and one consumer, that illustrate this.

Exhibit 1: Potbelly rocks the lunch line.

In my experience, sandwich shops with long lines at lunch time are doing something right. By that measure, the Potbelly on 3rd Street, SW, is a pretty special place.

At the store near my home, you wait in line, order at the counter, and then wait again for your sandwich to come out of the heater before picking out your toppings.

Not the 3rd Street store.

This store has equipped an employee with a tablet, and he places orders about 10-15 customers back in the line. This means your sandwich is ready to customize when you reach the counter. It’s efficient, and it creates a more-seamless process. I’d go back there anytime.

Of course, the live music helps too.

Exhibit 2: My mom wants an iPad.

I’m going to push for a Galaxy Tab instead. But I digress…

Before my parents went off on a road trip last month, I started getting lots of questions about data rates and where she might be able to read her e-mail while out of town.

Then they stayed with friends who had a summer home equipped with wifi–and an iPad. And my mom not only checked her e-mail daily but also caught up on the news without being tethered to one place.

My mom is online regularly. She has a digital subscription to the New York Times, leaves comments on news sites and the occasional blog, watches videos on YouTube, skype[s] with her grandson, and even dipped one toe into Twitter. And she and my dad watched a recent presidential candidates’ debate online. But that’s all on a desktop computer.

Until now, she’s been comfortable with the Web as a destination. Now she wants the Web where she is.

Mobile matters, and I think tablets are going to be game changers. But what say you?

Photo by isawnyu (Flickr).

How Do You Handle PITA Clients?

Daria Steigman — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:05:10 +0000

A friend of mine calls them PITAs.

That’s short for Pain in the ______. As in clients (or customers) who are more trouble than they’re worth.

I’m either lucky enough or wise enough not to have any PITAs. One advantage of being my own boss is I can prioritize “working with people I like” over profits. (Well, up to a point.)

Here are four strategies for handling PITAs:

Don’t play the game. Just because a client always calls before or after office hours doesn’t mean you need to take their calls. I try to be responsive to my clients. Often that means acknowledging an e-mail, not necessarily responding to the request.
Triage. I’ve occasionally answered a client who e-mailed on a Sunday, but that’s because the client had a problem they needed solved and didn’t expect me to be sitting around waiting to resolve it right then. I did not, however, respond to the client who left a voicemail at 6:00 a.m. asking for me to work on something she wanted for an 8:30 a.m. meeting. Good clients, like good businesses, earn respect–and the occasional “drop everything” moment.
Charge a premium. One business owner I know added a 50-percent surcharge for work done during weekends and holidays after one client kept requesting work on a Friday that “just had to be done” by Monday.
Price High. Several colleagues have done this: bid very high on projects they really didn’t want to win. Of course (as happened to one colleague) you might still win the work–so make sure the “PITA-premium” is a good one.

How do you handle PITA clients?

Photo by joeannenah (Flickr).

Can You Work Without a Net?

Daria Steigman — Tue, 03 May 2011 10:05:42 +0000

I’ve been pondering routines lately: why you need them and when to break free.

In a recent Workshifting post, I explored the paradox of the flexible routine:

Working from home (or anywhere else you choose) isn’t about avoiding routine–it’s about being able to set your own routine.

That said, we do spend a lot of time creating systems to keep ourselves focused and on track. They’re safety nets, barriers against the chaos of an unstructured life. But innovation doesn’t happen in 25- or 30-minute chunks. Sometimes we need to stop doing stuff and just concept, create, go with the flow, and see what happens.

Hence, in my latest post I ask: Can you work without a net?

Photo by Joost J. Bakker IJmuiden (Flickr).

Why Every Business Owner Should Think Rework

Daria Steigman — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:06:36 +0000

Rework is a deceptively simple manifesto for entrepreneurs that is all about challenging conventional wisdom and the way that business ought to be done. It’s written in brilliant one- and two-page bursts of ideas held together by big-picture business themes, much as co-authors and 37signals founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson believe that you should focus on actually getting work done rather than spending all your time planning out what you should, could, or might do.

Or, as the authors write:

“If you want to do something, you’ve got to do it now.”

I’ve been trying to figure out how to describe Rework since the book landed in my hands three months ago. Since then, I’ve found myself diving back into random sections almost daily for inspiration. As entrepreneurs themselves, Fried and Hansson “get it”; they understand that you can create a different path and succeed. They’ve done it, and we can too.

Check out my complete book review on Overdrive, which has more detail and some excerpts that illustrate why I think this book is a must read.

Are You Smart Enough to Scale?

Daria Steigman — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:02:32 +0000

Got e-mail?

Be glad people want your [help-time-advice-fill-in-the-blank].

I’ve seen a lot of hand-wringing lately about e-mail volume. Often it syncs with hallelujahs about Google’s Priority Inbox feature, which some people seem to suggest is “the only mail I’m going to read.” And here I was thinking it’s a great tool to help prioritize what needs my near-term attention.

Seriously, e-mail volume isn’t the problem. You are (if you can’t figure out how to scale).

Two examples:

1. My first job out of college was to answer mail. And members of Congress get a lot of mail. My job was to open the letters and identify: (a) topics that could be answered with an existing form letter; (b) hot topics that required a new form letter; (c) easy-t0-answer queries; (d) letters that needed a custom response. (The truly personal stuff went into a separate stack for the congressman’s attention.)

2. When I was a little girl, I drew a picture of a pink bunny for my dad’s boss. Secretary of Boss sees it and determines that it requires a response. So she drafts one. He signs it. If Dean Rusk could do it, so can you.

The “Most Important People” I know today answer their e-mail, often far faster than I expect. The message this sends is that being responsive to employees, colleagues, and community is a priority and not a burden.

What message are you sending?

Photo by Theodore Scott (Flickr).

The NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter, and More Social

Daria Steigman — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 10:06:57 +0000

Social business is a big topic of conversation these days. And there’s no question that companies that are able to pivot their operations to respond to both challenges and opportunities in real-time are ahead of the game. But how do you get there?

Jay Baer and Amber Naslund, co-authors of The NOW Revolution,* have written a book that answers this question. In it, they talk about organizational structures and employee skill sets as well as how to listen, respond, and measure your results.

This isn’t easy stuff, but it is essential. The authors note that “passion is the gasoline of social media and the Now Revolution, and you can’t fake passion over the long haul.” In other words, you have to walk the walk and do the work.

The book walks through seven key shifts that businesses need to make:

Building a corporate culture that strips away silos, is inclusive, and has the right mindset for the Now Revolution. (There’s even a “Culture Quiz” to help you assess your own company’s culture.)
Hiring people you trust. (The authors recommend that companies “Hire for culture. Train for skills.”)
Restructuring to address the reality that social media happens across an organization. (In addition to looking at the types of positions companies need to have in place, the authors also talk about social media guidelines and training.)
Putting in place a listening program. (The authors point out that “listening in social media is like answering phone calls, just in a new medium.”)
Responding effectively, including strategies for engaging effectively with your customers and other key audiences. There’s even a section on how companies can use this engagement to leverage what the authors call “the opportunity economy.”
Engaging in real-time crisis management.
Measuring what’s working and what’s not.

The NOW Revolution might not be the definitive, only-way-to-do-it guide, but it is a terrific book for entrepreneurs and other business owners seeking to infuse a social component across their business landscape. And it’s sprinkled with tools to help you get started and case studies that show it can be done. Whether you’re a startup entrepreneur or a multinational corporation, this is a business book that offers actionable information.

Want to Win a Free, Signed Copy of The NOW Revolution?
The authors have graciously provided me with a copy of The NOW Revolution to give away to one lucky reader. To enter to win, leave a comment either below or over at Overdrive about what your company is doing today to make your business more social. Let’s share some best practices! The best answer (as judged by me) wins a copy of The NOW Revolution.

*Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book in exchange for agreeing to review it, but without any restrictions on what I might say.