User-interface design, or UI, is the art of simplifying complexity into meaningful user experiences. It’s an increasingly important competitive advantage for companies, as consumers seek sites, apps and products that offer as much intuitiveness as they do function. But the reality is that many still have no idea that the key to success lies in the user experience, providing the consumer with the information they want right when they want it.

Studies have validated the importance of good UI design. A 2009 Best Practices in User Experience study by Forrester Research (read the study here) finds that companies who provide a superior experience have more customers who are willing to consider them for another purchase (14.4 percent), fewer customers who are likely to do business with a competitor (15.8 percent), and more customers who are likely to recommend their products (16.6 percent). Enough said.

But if you’re still not convinced, think back to 2006, when Microsoft introduced Zune, a portable MP3 player that, despite being feature-rich, failed to compete with the iPod due in part to a more complex interface. The simplicity of Apple’s design won them the mobile media market – and Microsoft is still trying to catch up. More recently, a bad design and confusing user interface could be the reason more people haven’t adopted Google Plus (read more about that here).  Admittedly these are large-scale examples, but I can think of many more experiences I’ve had lately with bad UI design – online banking to name one, ING .

In short, I can’t stress enough the importance of a good, smart user interface: It can quite literally be the difference between product acceptance and rejection in today’s commoditized marketplace. If the customer feels that your website, app or product is not easy to learn, not easy to use or too cumbersome, your otherwise-excellent idea could be destined to fail before the customer has a chance to discover it.

I constantly find myself studying good user interface design to find out what makes it work so well, and I’m interested in your thoughts and experiences with good (or bad) UI design.

When you decide to buy, you are essentially locking yourself in to your home for a set period of time – if you leave too soon, you’re inevitably going to lose.  But there’s no long-term commitment in renting, which is going to allow us to live comfortably in Manhattan and within walking distance to things we like to do – shopping, restaurants, etc.  Regardless of the fact that we may spend more in rent and lose what we would gain through lower monthly mortgage payments, funding an investment and building equity, we lose in flexibility, the opportunity to walk away, and the chance to buy when the right opportunity presents itself.

Before every financial decision you make, you have to ask yourself, “Does it make sense?”  And what makes most financial sense may not always be what makes most sense.

For us –  the price of flexibility (renting) turned out to be the better buy.

Remember those days?  Yeah, me neither.

That’s because the Internet has so drastically changed the real estate landscape that it’s now hard to imagine not having the ability to quickly and easily search listings by the things most important to us.  Sites like StreetEasy, Zillow and Trulia.com have literally taken power from the hands of the real estate agent and given it to you, the consumer, to make smart home-related decisions.  These sites allow you to search for your next home by using keywords like “gourmet kitchen,” “swimming pool” or “deck with a view.”  You can examine rental and purchase history in real time (as well as rental and purchase history for your neighbors), get instant updates when a new home or rental has hit the market or when a change in price has occurred, and refine your searches by literally anything you can thing of — price per square foot, amenities, public school zoning, commute time, etc.  There are now so many new tools and such an abundance of information available online that the whole real estate game has changed.  No longer are we running on 1950s-newspaper time.

As you can imagine, the role of the real estate agent is now up for debate.  Some realty groups have even started to cut off listing access to Zillow and Trulia, accusing them of being inaccurate, misleading and taking away business from listing agents.  It makes perfect sense though.  If you’re able to do your own research and make your own informed decisions about where to rent and what to buy, why pay an agent just to show up and let you in the door?

Similarly, what was once a lucrative business for newspaper real estate classifieds is now turning into yet another blow to the already declining ad revenue sales and circulation of print media publications.

So, what have we learned today?  Basically, technology accelerates markets, and in this case, for the better.  Take advantage of it.

Recently, though, Expedia has been advertising as though they are the best thing to happen to travel since the inflatable neck pillow.  It claims that where you book your travel actually matters, that it isn’t selling a commodity, but rather selling a brand.  But I’m just not seeing it. Think about it: The last time you walked in to a hotel, be it the W or the Holiday Inn, did anyone look down on you or tell you you’re an idiot for booking at Orbitz instead of Expedia?

Short answer: No.

Expedia is desperately trying to differentiate, but fundamentally, Expedia is a commodity, competing exclusively on price and convenience.  Customers simply don’t care where they book if the price is right.

Unfortunately, dry cleaners simply don’t do customer service.  I mean, it’s reasonable to expect my dry cleaner would replace any missing or broken buttons on my dress shirts, free of charge, right?  So why does it always feel like it’s my fault – like I’m the bad guy?  These days, customers are turning their backs to businesses that do not deliver value, and good customer service adds value.  There’s no way around it and no shortcuts.  Customers demand value for money, or they are out of the door.  And why shouldn’t they?  After all, the customer is always right.  Apparently dry cleaning management never got that memo.

They should learn this quickly though, before they all begin to fail.

According to a survey done last year and reported in American Drycleaner magazine (yes, apparently there is a trade magazine even for the dry cleaning industry) dry cleaners aren’t faring that well in this tough economy.  That’s because many people have discovered that they can get through life just fine without such a luxury; it’s an easy way to save a few bucks every week.

And it will be an uphill battle to convince them to return.  When asked about initiatives they have planned to help increase sales in 2012, many dry cleaners said their efforts would involve continuing or improving upon their marketing programs to increase visibility.  Others are targeting route sales, training their customer service representatives to cross-sell, and increasing promotion of specialty cleaning and pressing services.

Hmm.  No mention of customer service.  Not surprising.

What they most want is to find service professionals who will deliver quality service, first and foremost, and then worry about the cost later.  Contrary to what most might think, once your customers become convinced of the quality of what you offer, they will be far less concerned about the price.

Or at least I am.  Here’s why…

I was recently in the market to hire a public relations professional to help support one of my small businesses.  I talked to several people that looked qualified on paper.  However, a long list of qualifications and a fancy resume don’t impress me.  One person was so focused on charging me money that I hardly had a chance to explain what I needed and to assess what value they would bring to my company.  How can I know about your expertise, the quality of your work, or your dependability from a phone conversation?  I can’t.  How will I know your services do what you said they will?  I don’t.  I’d much rather you deliver me quality first, before asking me to pay for something.

So, to all you service professionals and freelancers out there, I pose this test: Even if you already believe your services are superior, take a step back and look at what you offer through the eyes of your customers.  Measure the value of what you are offering from their perspective.  Assess how your services stack up and do some discovery on whether you are delivering the quality and the value that will keep your customers coming back for more.

See if you can do this before tallying up a sum total of services you haven’t even delivered.

It begs the question: What would you do if you were 10 times bolder?  Would you ask for a promotion or raise (or maybe just tell your boss off and worry about the consequences later)?  Would you finally start that new business you’ve been thinking about for years?  Would you tell someone in your life how you really feel about him or her?  Or would you do something totally unpredictable like go skydiving?

Ask yourself what you’re afraid of.  For most of us, it’s the fear of rejection that’s holding us back.  By the same token, some of us may be uncomfortable in change and revel in complacency.

Whatever you are, ultimately, boldness comes from within.  It’s about discovering what makes you different and then calling attention to it.  It’s about challenging conventional thinking, and it requires conviction and imagination.  It’s not about what you do, but rather about who you are.

Pretend for a day that you are 10 times bolder.

What would you do?

How would you feel?

So what does this have to do with the future of work?  Just like my dad’s philosophy, most businesses and employers still focus on how much time is being put into a job rather than focusing on the results and outcomes that make them successful.  Think about it: Does your employer still tell you what time to come to work and what time to leave?  And how you’re expected to work when you’re there?  Do you have to ask for time off or sneak out early when your kid has a soccer game?  I mean, when’s the last time you actually took a sick day for fear your boss would think you’re just skipping out on work?  The current employer/employee relationship is much like a parent/child relationship, operated by the premise that employees can’t be fully trusted, and so they treat them like children, who must be continuously monitored.

But why not measure employees by the value they create, rather than by the number of hours they sit at a desk?  A lot of employers and businesses are starting to.  Even the U.S. Government — the epitome of inefficiency — recently jumped on board (more on that here).  This relatively new movement, called a Results Only Work Environment, or ROWE, is based on the premise that employees should be judged upon their successful completion of the task at hand.  The goal?  Better performance.

The model was developed at Best Buy in 2002 by two former HR workers, who were frustrated by daily routines of constraint and inefficiency.  In true guerrilla fashion, they started running certain departments of the company using the premise that Best Buy should hire people they trust and treat them as adults, capable of making responsible adult choices and doing work at their own time and pace.  After two years of running the covert operation, they told their CEO about the approach: define clear deliverables, give people full responsibility for achieving them, and they’ll deliver far more often than they fall short.  It worked.  After implementing ROWE, productivity at Best Buy increased at their headquarters office by 41%, while decreasing voluntary turnover by 90%.

Although they developed the formal concept, Best Buy may not have actually been the first to invent the concept of the results only work environment.  Tech companies had been going ROWE for years without actually calling it that.  At IBM, 40% of the workforce has no official office, and Sun Microsystems calculated that over a six-year period, it saved $400 million in real estate costs by allowing nearly half of its employees to work anywhere they want.  Further, a 2008 Boston Consulting Group study found that 85% of executives surveyed expected a big rise in the number of ROWE workers in the years ahead, and that at many companies, the most innovative new product may be the structure of the workplace itself.

Of course companies who give employees more autonomy have every right to expect accountability.  That begins with clearly and explicitly defining what success looks like in any given job, and making that, rather than face time, the measurement by which you define success.  Not everyone is able to handle that level of autonomy and responsibility.  Further, not all businesses employ people that can work from anywhere at any time they want, with little supervision.  But ROWE isn’t about teleworking or flextime; it’s about a renewed focus on outcomes and results.

Although my dad and I don’t see eye to eye on this, I’ll stick to my grade school-age philosophy: that time worked does not equal results and, quite simply, the more confidence you have in your people, the better they perform.

Oh, and for once, the next time it snows in D.C., the government isn’t going to shut down.  Amen to that.

Must-reads:

Feds to Test Results-Only Work Environment
Reward Value, Not Face Time
Smashing The Clock: No schedules. No mandatory meetings. Inside Best Buy’s radical reshaping of the workplace

In fact, recent studies have shown that juggling multiple assignments may make you less, rather than more, efficient (read: Multitasking Makes You Less Efficient).  This same philosophy can be applied to business as well.

Consider new businesses.  Research by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that more than 50% of small businesses fail in the first five years of operation.  This statistic is sobering for anyone tempted to invest their time and personal savings into launching a small business.

Obviously there are a host of reasons for this.  But one contributing factor may be that new businesses are trying to do too many things at the outset.  They have a lack of vision and focus, and doing 10 things at a rate of 10% is going to get you nowhere – except on the BLS statistics list.

Further, many small business owners get caught up in what other people are doing, and get side-tracked from where they want their own business to be.  It’s important you focus your energies on one or two things at a time.  Trust me when I say that you will find greater success if you delegate things this way – one thing at a time, until your task is complete.

Must-reads:

Multitasking Makes You Less Efficient

Top 10 Reasons Small Businesses Fail

Founded in 2005, MegaUpload grew into a massive files-sharing site over the years.  Estimates vary as to its traffic and registered user base, but suffice it to say that the service was huge, possibly among the world’s biggest.  While an undisclosed amount of the site’s data undoubtedly included an enormous amount of pirated material, many people used the service to store and send files to themselves, their family and friends, and colleagues, not expecting them to disappear literally overnight when the feds abruptly and unexpectedly shut the site down on charges of copyright infringement.

This may be an extreme case (after all, when was the last time one of your favorite websites was shut down by the feds?).  But it’s also a great example of the false expectation of security people have when it comes to new technology.

While being the first on your block to own the latest shiny new electronic thing or sign of up for the latest beta version of an online widget provides a certain insider status and puts you on the cutting edge, it also opens you up to serious trouble.  Oftentimes these companies are not doing the penetration testing or technology risk assessments required to identify potential security issues and implement corrective strategies.  Ultimately, this puts you and/or your business at risk.

There are literally hundreds of technology blogs out there today offering up beta opportunities, targeting early adopters who are willing and eager to take advantage of the latest and (they hope) greatest.  There’s no doubt that advances in technology represent a seductive opportunity to anyone willing to try them, but new technology also means new risk, and for people and businesses, those risks can be costly.

What’s the answer?  It’s hard to say, besides that you should always be cautious of in whom and in how many people you invest your valuable private information.  It’s great to be first, but it’s better to be safe.

Must reads:

Feds Shutter Megaupload, Arrest Executives

Two lessons from the Megaupload seizure

Megaupload’s demise: What happens to your files when a cloud service dies?

What exactly do these companies have at stake?  Do they really not make enough money?  And if they do, what’s the difference between winning the $15 million Power Ball and the $145 million jackpot?

In times of prosperity, a company’s focus is to keep doing what they’re doing, because they’re obviously doing it right.  So what about when profits are sinking and investors are backing out?  As the entertainment industry has shown numerous times, you protect what you have left.  You ready your last line of defense – the one that makes you look like the bad guy – your teams of lawyers.

Although SOPA and PIPA have been sacked, the philosophy that punishment for downloading one song or film should be as severe as some murder trial verdicts is well alive.  So the brains of Silicon Valley get their own defense as a business necessity.  The makers of the next Facebook or Spotify are watching their backs for the ominous shadow of litigation.  Instead of two technology entrepreneurs working 15-hour days in a dimly lit garage, start-ups require two programmers in a garage and a team of 10 attorneys on the floor above them that allow the entrepreneurs to keep their jobs.

Threats of legal retaliation drown out the media’s own cry for help. Their pain isn’t caused by a mere decline in their sales, but rather a fundamental problem with their business model.  Imagine that legislation is passed and people are no longer able to download the latest version of Adobe Photoshop or the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album.  There is only a small chance that they would purchase this item if they couldn’t get it for free.  The price isn’t right for what’s on offer.  Sure, some die-hard fans Chili fans will shell out the cash for a 12-song LP.  The rest will go without, or find some other way to get it for free.  Until innovators and publicists work together, rather than against each other, to give users what they want, the law will stand in the way of progressing both art and technology.

I mean, after a pricey fill up, I couldn’t help wondering why we aren’t being more proactive about things like solar energy companies. Granted, there are a number of corporate and private tax credits and incentives for using green energy, but how many people do? Why can’t we have a law in the next ten years that states that where it’s economically viable any flat roof more than 3,000 sq. ft. must have solar panels installed? The energy from these panels could easily be sold back to the grid creating another source of revenue.

But I think corporations will have to lead the way here. With residental solar panels costing from $25,000 – $50,000 dollars, the initial cost of solar energy is prohibitive for most families. For some families in parts of the country, that’s half the cost of their mortgage. Even with all the tax credits and incentives, solar power can still cost up to $5,000 – $25,000 per residential home.

If corporations could lead the way, though, maybe we could help drive the prices down so that solar panels could be more affordable for everyone. Not only that, but if corporations banded together nationwide, we could offer more green jobs to people who desperately need work. The more manufacturers that produce solar panels, the more jobs they create. The more companies needed to install solar panels, again, the more jobs this creates. Why can’t we tackle the energy and job crisis together?

Still, I think there’s some hope. According to the Solar Energies Industries Association, the United States saw a “66 percent year-over-year growth over Q1 2010 installations.” The SEIA also claims that the U.S. will become the largest market for renewable solar energy in the next several years. Manufacturers are already investing in sites in the U.S. to remain close to the solar boom. Now, if we could all get behind it, what could we achieve?

As a corporation or even as a small business, do you think you’d switch to solar energy? Why or why not?

Cal at Carl Allen Florists in Philadelphia thinks so. He turns the sales process on its head.

First, you speak to Cal or one of his staff to schedule a four-hour meeting at his florist shop. They’ll have you fill out documentation about your floral preferences (you’re encouraged to send as many  pictures as you want to them weeks before your meeting) so that when you arrive at his florist shop — a business on the basement floor of an office building — you’ll be greeted by a staff of five to ten people arranging flowers that meet your stated preferences. You’ll instantly feel that subtle energy that living plants and flowers can give off when seen up close and personal. There are no laminated books here.

Each flower in any — or all — the colors you want have already been ordered for you, and each has its own vase. So after 30 minutes of discussing your particular vision and budget, your floral decor is assembled for you. You are intimately involved in the creation of your event’s floral decoration. Want more roses or peonies? You get to choose them then and there. Keeping the size and budget of your event in mind, the staff adds, subtracts, and suggests elements to include in your arrangement. And what you end up with is exactly what you choose to create given all the options in front of you.

In our case, Cal, the second generation owner of Carl Allen Florists, shouted out, “Yes!” when we’d finished our floral consultation. Why? Once everything had been added up, he’d come in under our stated budget. How often do merchants do that? Especially after giving you that kind of attention and personal service.

As a business owner myself, I asked Cal what his close rate was once people came in for his consultation service. He shared an impressive rate and said, “If people don’t choose us, it’s typically because they don’t like something about my personality. And that’s okay.” I love that attitude. First, it suggests they’re doing something right because it’s not the service customers are unhappy with. But I also love that Cal is content to be who he is. Because someone who’s passionate about what they do will draw other passionate people to them. And quality is always better than quantity.

How could other businesses that offer consultation services increase their close rate five or ten fold by using personal touches and professional tactics like Cal?

If you don’t know whether your business is a commodity or not, let’s define the term. Anything where price is the largest factor in a customer’s decision on whether or not to buy a product from your company or from another company means your business is likely a commodity. The current high price of gasoline easily sways a customer’s desire to switch from one gas station to another to find the lowest price for that commodity. Organic foods are another example. Do you really care if an organic orange is from California or Brazil? No, you’re going to buy the cheapest one. There’s no brand loyalty there.

After a recent incident with a dry cleaner who I’d used for four years, I realized that they didn’t deal well with dry cleaning issues, which made my life more difficult. Similarly, a liquor store that I’d gone to for eight years raised their prices despite the fact that the store seemed shabbier to me. In each instance, there was no reason I couldn’t easily find another dry cleaner or another cheaper, well-kept liquor store. If they had a commodity strategy, though, they could lessen the chance that customers would switch from their product to another product or from their business to another business.

The commodity strategy I prefer is not to be a commodity. You want your customers to love your product, your business, your system. You want them to love you enough that they don’t consider price or switching to another company. This comes from providing value-added products and services. This comes from providing exceptional customer service all the time. This comes from knowing what your customers want and need. And this comes from having a passion for your own business so that your customers sense that passion as well. If you gain your customers’ trust, you gain their patronage, and then, when they consider your product or service indispensable, they aren’t even concerned with issues of pricing.

How could your business avoid becoming a commodity by instituting a commodity strategy that elevates you from a commodity status in the first place?

JapanProbe dot com
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But some employees value equity or stock options over salary or bonuses, and these employees have to be dealt with carefully. For instance, I think there has to be a vesting period of at least a year for the best employees in the company. Ninety percent of the time, I’d prefer the vesting period to be at least three years. This assures me that after two months an employee doesn’t run off with part of the company.

When it comes to deciding whether you want to offer employees stock options, you want to be sure that you’re offering equity to the employees that are going to propel your company forward in a significant way. Even if your employee is the best engineer that you have, I’d only consider offering them two to three percent equity in the company. Granted, this can be an incentive for your employee. It may make them feel as if they’re more connected to the company’s success. But stock options dilute over time.

Most stock holders hang on to anywhere from 10 – 60 percent of the pie once founders and the first round of employees or investors have taken their cut. The more people who are included in the pie, the less pie there is to share. Each time an employee is given stock options, your slice of the pie gets a little smaller — so does your control over the company.

A friend overseas has a developer who owns about seven percent of the company. This means they have voting rights and some control over the company. All this would be fine, except this person is trying to block funding and is making life difficult for the people still running the company. And that’s the risk you take when offering employees stock options in a start up. You have to ask yourself: Is it truly worth it?

What are your thoughts about offering equity in a start up?

The way I see it business technology isn’t always the solution — at least not right away. Information technology is a tricky thing when it merges with business. Information technology might not be shiny and new. But business technology is still finding its feet. Everyone’s talking about it. Everyone’s online. Everyone wants to be a part of it.  But most of the time,  I don’t think this sort of complex business technology should be the first course of action when trying to roll out a new process or system. I mean I’ve seen people trying to throw all their time and money into complicated technology when their current needs could be solved with a much simpler — and elegant — solution.

Frankly, sometimes there’s something to be said for the old tried and true methodology. Given that, I think the best way to launch a process or system is to figure out what’s the minimum viable product you need to accomplish your business’ goals. Keep it simple. Make a mock up. Get some feedback. Find out if there’s even a market for your process or system. Along the way, you’ll also find out that your system may start to change as you learn more about what your customers want and need. With this approach you can see how the system is actually being used, and then you can build onto the system as you go. Information technology should merge with your business’ needs — not take it over.

That’s why I say that technology isn’t always the answer. Spending your time and effort on a full blown technological process or system without thought for how it’ll effect your business — or how you can integrate the two — can leave you with a system or process that doesn’t even meet your needs. Like one of my clients, you may find you’re spending 2,000 hours on small widgets that aren’t being used in any meaningful way. That’s 2,000 wasted hours. And that doesn’t even touch on the amount of money those hours have cost you. But you’ll find that if you start small, you can always add more features later.

How much could you save if you stopped a current technological project and ratcheted it back to only what you need right now? Again, remember, you can always add more bells and whistles later.

1. Project Tracking/Time Management/Bug Tracking
2. Community Discussion Forums
3. Personalized News Aggregation/Filtering
4. Content Management
5. Social Voting and Reviews
6. Music/Social Events Location Applications
7. Dating and Match-Making
8. Personal Information Management
9. Social Network for ________
10. Photo/Video/Bookmark/Whatever Sharing

Shah goes into greater detail about what each startup encompasses, but I think for the most part, successful small business software startups already know to steer clear of these opportunities. In most of these categories, you already have a huge competitor that’s entrenched in the market. Your business software startup isn’t likely to be the new Facebook, or the new Newser, or the new 4Chan, or the new Twitter, or even the new Match.com.

Online business startups fail when they personalize their software system. Maybe they see three little flaws in an already large system and think that by fixing those flaws, they can make a name for themselves online. The truth is that 90 percent of the users of these large online systems don’t care about those three flaws. So instead of coming up with the next big thing, these small business software startups end up throwing time and money down the drain on software startups people neither want nor need.

The Internet is a fantastic place. There’s all sorts of possibilities for startups. And I’m not one to say that small businesses shouldn’t take advantage of this medium. But whatever you do, it has to be unique. Take the time to really research your market.

What other business software startups do you think should be avoided?

When purchasing a company, a partner at a private equity firm remarked:

“It’s easy to negotiate when you buy with a large spread.”

Meaning that he sees something of worth in your company that you don’t. He’s buying a company not because he plans to keep the company at current revenues, but because he sees the company making 5 or 10 times the company’s current sales. He is, in essence, buying the future revenue of the company. That promise of a large spread is worth more to the buyer than it is to the merchant, who may only see the operating costs of his current venture.

When the seller can’t see that large spread, it makes the buyer’s negotiations easier. Because the buyer doesn’t have to get caught up in the little details that might delay or ruin a transaction. If the seller wants twice what you offer and you know the business can make 250 percent of that, don’t negotiate back and forth with the seller on small points. So what if the CEO wants to keep his desk and a company car? It makes little difference in the long run. Similarly, if the buyer wants something small from you to complete a deal, give it to them. Sell your business and move on. Don’t make negotiations more difficult than they need to be.

How do you grow your own business so that you can see the large spread that the private equity partner sees in your company?

To this I say: thank you for those defeating thoughts. It makes it easier for people like me to get through to them.

Defeating thoughts will sabotage you more surely than anything else. You can’t let them rule you or hold you back — and they’ll try! But put them right out of your head. Don’t let them cripple you. And don’t let them stop you from getting ahead.

I have one friend who was trying to contact a CEO for an informational interview the other day. While he was dialing the phone, he was already talking himself out of the idea that he could reach any of the CEOs on a list that he had created. He was lost before he even started.

What every person in the business industry should remember is this: everyone, at some time, has been in your shoes. That CEO you’re so intimidated by started on the bottom rung of the ladder too. Like you, he probably networked with other CEOs or had a mentor that helped him on his way up the business ladder. To be honest, he could very well want to return the favor for young and ambitious businessmen. CEOs are not untouchable.

In order to get over this fear of trying to network with CEOs, I recommend trying to contact one three times a year. Don’t let defeatist thoughts get in your way. Don’t talk yourself out of it. Don’t let a good opportunity slip away. Just do it. If nothing else, you’ll meet interesting people. Who knows? Maybe one of them will be the business contact you were hoping for.

Since Harvard is a renown school with great programs and an excellent reputation, it’s easy to see the appeal of going for your MBA there. (You can see what I think of MBAs in general here.) But while I appreciate the school itself and I’m sure the Harvard Business School has an excellent business network, it’s not the only way to reach high-powered people.

Another friend of mine has a particular system for business networking that’s successfully gotten him a few six figure jobs. His system is elegant, simple, and clever: contact CEOs. It doesn’t take a Harvard degree to see the benefit in doing so.

Here’s what my friend does:

1. Call CEOs in the industry you want to be in.
2. Take them for coffee. (Let them choose the time and place, and be there early.)
3. Ask them three questions:

• How did you get where you are today?
• How do you see your industry unfolding over the next 10 to 20 years?
• How should I position myself to take advantage of that market?

Consider it an informal interview. Often, speaking with a CEO face-to-face opens up opportunities you might not have come across if you’d merely sent in a piece of paper with your achievements on it. To them, you’re another applicant on another sheet of paper. But when they can put a name to a face, you’ve given yourself a leg up on the ladder to success.

Do you know of any other ways to get your foot in the door?

Their biggest mistake was telling me that they couldn’t seat my party until all members were present (this is a pet peeve of mine). That meant all 35 people in my party would have to wait to be seated until the very last member arrived. Given that plans change and people encounter unavoidable hold-ups, who knows how long my party would have to wait to be seated. Not only that, but by having 30+ people milling about the front of the restaurant, other patrons may have seen this as an exceptionally long waiting list and gone elsewhere for their meal.

Initially, the staff member told me that “If we seat two people at a table for eight, we lose money.” But this is exceptionally narrow-minded thinking. Losing a large party, especially one of 35 people, is extremely damaging to a restaurant’s nightly sales. There’s a difference between adhering to the letter of the house rules and the spirit of them. I’m certainly convinced that in servicing a party of 35, they would have recouped that “lost money” 15 times over.

And then there’s the damage to their brand, which directly equates to revenue (I wrote about a similar scenario in another post). In the end, the customer’s truth is all that matters. Not only did they lose money, but they alienated me and my party with their poor customer service. Now, if I tell someone about my bad experience with this restaurant, that may be only one voice and one customer among all their clientele. The initial loss in revenue may not make a difference to the restaurant’s business. But if 35 patrons have a bad experience with that restaurant, the loss in sales and customer base becomes exponential.

So the question becomes:

How did this restaurant lose money by trying too hard to optimize their business revenue?

They alienated me — and possibly 34 other customers. They stated that they’d prioritize a party of two over a party of 35. They lost money by having a table sitting empty.  They lost additional sales from party members who were likely to order drinks and even appetizers while they waited for other party members.

Granted, any business wants to optimize their revenue, but by remaining rigid to their own policies, this particular restaurant sabotaged themselves.

Have you had other experiences where, in trying to optimize their business revenue, a small business or start-up has damaged their relationship with their customers and lost sales?

1. Reactive People: This is the person who does exactly what they’re told. Before they do anything else, they wait until they’re given the next instruction or assignment.
2. Proactive People: This type of person is a problem solver. They think ahead, anticipating the next step in both their life and work. If there’s an issue, they find a solution.

Given one of my earlier posts, you can probably guess which category I fall into. Perhaps my habit of worrying about my own businesses is my way of being proactive. But think about what category you or your employees fall into. What type of personality helps you succeed?

According to some of my friends, corporate America is already clued in to the dichotomy between these two types of personalities. In fact, my friends tell me there is actually a salary base line of 100k between employees who are being proactive as opposed to reactive.

While salary may be a metric for being proactive or reactive, I don’t think it’s a hard and fast boundary. I believe that being proactive is something that can be learned. Let me explain:

I spent seven years as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and have over 4,000 hours on an ambulance. The 200 hours of training I received constantly focused on the question, “What’s next?” If you weren’t always thinking ahead or anticipating a patient’s needs or possible complications, you could find yourself facing a life or death situation.

Now, the business world may not be as dramatic (though we may feel like we’re making life and death decisions when it comes to our businesses), but there’s something to be learned here. Proactive people increase work productivity and business revenue. How? They handle problems before they become problems. They’re EMTs, they’re firefighters.

As I said before, I think being proactive, employing proactive people, or even committing to proactive management is something that can be learned. And here’s a few of the ways you can learn to be more proactive–and thus, more successful — at work:

1. Remember the Big Picture: I’ve already written a post about how you can’t forget the small details in business. But to be proactive, you have to keep the big picture in mind too. The road to your business’ success may have roadblocks or detours. Think ahead before your small business or start-up has to undergo major construction.
2. Be a Firefighter: A firefighter’s job is to put out a fire as quickly as possible to prevent as little damage to life or property as possible. In the business world, we have to be like firefighters, thinking ahead before problems flare up or grow into a conflagration that could cost your business its brand reputation, customer loyalty, or revenue.
3. Surround Yourself with Proactive People: Being around proactive people can help you be more proactive as well, especially when you employ proactive people. With employees and partners you can depend upon, you can focus your attention on potential issues for your business’ continued success safe in the knowledge that your employees or partners can handle — and will handle — any other problems that crop up.
4. Challenge Yourself: Being proactive may mean loosening your death grip on the reins of your company. But if you have a good employee with a great idea, let them run with it.  Never be afraid of being challenged by new ideas or concepts. In fact, challenge your own way of thinking. What could you do now that could mean success later?

Overall, I think you’ll find that if you can get yourself in a proactive frame of mind, you’ll see positive results in your business, your productivity, and your revenue.

But how can you be more proactive in your business? Do you think being proactive is the secret to success in your own small business, start-up, or enterprise?

For example, you often hear new entrepreneurs say, “I asked all my friends, and they think X, Y, or Z is a great idea!” And it might be. But your friends and family could simply be echoing your own enthusiasm for your ideas–or expressing their belief and faith in you. This can create an echo chamber effect that can skew your own ideas about your small business or start-up.

On a similar note, as entrepreneurs with an understanding of the business world, we have to realize that not everyone has our credentials. So while  Aunt Harriette might think your business concept is spectacular, she may not be the best judge of your business decisions. But because our friends and family mean well, we again find ourselves in an echo chamber, where those around us often gratify us by telling us exactly what we want to hear.

Now, the opposite can be true too. Sometimes great ideas are stymied by well-meaning but uneducated family members, friends who may not be forward thinking, or peers who may be afraid of change. These people may transfer their own biases onto your business decisions. In this way, you may find yourself screaming into another echo chamber, where all you hear are unsubstantiated criticisms that may or may not have value.

Having said that, every good entrepreneur realizes that constructive criticism can be invaluable, but the criticism must be constructive. It’s not enough to simply tear down an idea; that’s easy. But for criticism to be constructive, a person has to explain to you why that idea might not work. Constructive criticism aims to make your business better–not tear it down.

If you’re unsure when to accept criticism, there’s a rule of three regarding criticism.

1. If one person criticizes an aspect of your business, take it or leave it. In this case, you can decide whether that person understands where you want to go with your business, and you can make an informed decision about that particular criticism.
2. If you hear the same criticism twice, you need to sit up and listen. Now you should start to think about the value of the criticism you’re receiving. These sorts of criticisms may require unwanted work, but that work may pay off in the end.
3. If the same criticism comes back three or more times, then something is broken. These criticisms are important to improving your business. You may not agree with this feedback, but you have to be objective enough to face the criticism being given.

At the end of the day, though, an entrepreneur or small business owner has to find a strange balance between the support and the criticism they receive from those that surround them–without getting caught in an echo chamber. Because to be successful, an entrepreneur has to be flexible enough to take criticism in order to improve an idea but rigid enough to ignore criticism in order to bring something of value to market.

How do you view criticism? And how do you deal with criticism from your friends, family, or peers? Does one have more value than another? If so, why?

Store4Summer is my summer storage company. It targets college campus students in the metro D.C. area who need unique moving, shipping, and storage solutions. I love my company, and I improve upon it each year. In fact, I’ve instituted multiple measurements that track a large number of aspects of the company so that I can improve upon it.

And yet, each year–from tax day until June 1st–I worry. You have to understand that I’m not usually a worrier. Typically, I take an Alfred E. Neuman approach: “What, me worry?” But not during my start-up’s busy season. This is partly due to the seasonal nature of the business. Most college students move out between the last week in April and the last week in May.

But the real question is “Does this worry make my start-up successful?” Sometimes I think it helps me Poke the Box, as Seth Godin would say. While other local business owners won’t change because they prefer the status quo or because “That’s not the way we used to do it,” I wonder if my worrying is one of the main things that helps me continue to grow and change my start-up. Already this year I’m hoping to double my sales.

So the question is “Does the fact that I worry cause better results, or does it simply increase my stress and the likelihood that I’ll go prematurely grey?” It’s a tough call. There are other questions that go hand-in-hand with this, such as, “Does this motivate people on my team, or does it alienate them?” For me, these are valid questions, and I’m not sure of the answers.

Even if you use non-conventional methods, how do you improve your start-up? Until I find another way to improve mine, I think I’ll still focus on pushing my proverbial rock up the hill.

So I’ve begun to wonder how a restaurant business can emphasize their brand with a patron beyond the quality of the dining experience, which, I admit, leaves its own impression.

If you’re a low end restaurant, this isn’t as important. I don’t mind the unbranded Chinese food container that’s sitting in my fridge. It only costs $20 for two people to eat there. But even Chinese take-out often leaves you with a menu you can tuck in a drawer next to the phone.

If you’re a high end restaurant, though, I want to feel good about the $200 I just spent on dinner. China Millman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette talks about small touches restaurants can use to create leftovers that make that sort of lasting impression. One such small touch, she notes, is a restaurant that places leftover boxes in “attractive brown paper shopping bags emblazed with the name of the restaurant.” She points out bags like this can be reused while providing free brand advertising. This makes them both creative and useful.

Ideally, I believe these “small touches” should be just that: creative and useful. But if they aren’t creative and useful, they should at least be one or the other.

Another food critic–S. Irene Virbila–for the Los Angeles Times writes about her most memorable meals. When describing one restaurant “in a greenhouse with a dirt floor . . . flowering plants and eccentric objets,” she would have loved to have left with a glass cloche for her garden. Now how could a restaurant use that sort of desire to further their brand?

Have you been to a restaurant and walked away with a useful or creative favor that gave you a positive, lasting impression? What kind of useful or creative things can high end restaurant businesses do to establish their marketing brand with their patrons even after the last course?