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You’re the Boss Blog: Why a Mediocre Web Site Is So Dangerous

November 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Site Analysis

What’s wrong with this Web site?

In my last post, I asked, “Can a Marketing Contest Increase Sales for This Online Retailer?”

The online retailer, you may recall, was Don Chernoff, the inventor of SkyRoll, a carry-on bag that was designed to minimize wrinkles in suits and shirts. SkyRoll has sold thousands of units in retail stores but relatively few through the company’s Web site. In an effort to bolster the site’s traffic and sales, Mr. Chernoff created the “Crazy Carry-On Contest.” Unfortunately, the contest has done little to improve the site’s performance. We asked the readers of this column to take a look at the site and offer their views on why the site is failing to deliver sales and why the contest has failed to generate buzz.

As usual, the readers zeroed in on the crucial issues, offering insights and providing a lot of practical advice. When selling online, there are three things you have to do: make people want to buy your product, create a level of trust so people will be willing to buy from you and make the buying process as simple and intuitive as possible. The readers clearly believe (as do I) that the site has failed in all three areas.

Lucy, from Moab, Utah: “I wondered if there would be enough room for everything else I wanted to carry if I used this system. An artist’s line drawing of an X-ray view of the bag, with items nestled within and around the roll would be helpful. Or possibly a photo of everything that fit within the bag laid out for all to see. After all, potential customers of Skyroll already use a carry on roller bag AND a garment bag. Surely a concern would be, ‘Could I fit everything into this one bag?’”

Sporty from Atlanta: “The description on how to use the bag makes it sound really complicated and shuts down the sale. Why not simply do a lovely video that shows how easy it really easy to pack clothes. Additionally, it is not clear how much can fit in the cylinder. That can be shown on the video as well.”

In addition, I’d like to give a big thank you to Jen in New York who found the site for Max Mirani luggage. This site succeeds in many ways that SkyRoll does not. Starting with the home page, the site has a clean, uncluttered design. And as you can see below, it demonstrates the capacity of the luggage through illustration and explanation, making it much easier for visitors to decide if this is the right product for them.

Readers also picked up on the fact that little seems to have been invested in the SkyRoll site. Lucy from Moab thought there needed to be “more excitement,” while Susan from North Carolina didn’t mince words. “It is a terrible Web site,” she wrote. “The paragraphs are disjointed, with way too many words. The product itself looks great, but obviously no one with marketing experience was involved. And frankly the Web site construction is flat and dated as well.”

New York’s Anonymous Coward summed up the issues: “The big problem is there is nothing on the home page that says this item is for sale. The site looks like a brochure and not an e-commerce site. There needs to be something on the front page that tells the visitors, ‘we sell great bags and you can BUY THEM NOW.’ Right now it just says ‘we make great bags’.”

Mr. Chernoff was especially interested in reader reaction to his Crazy Carry-On Contest, which was introduced in March but has generated little buzz. Site visitors were invited to submit photographs and videos of odd or unusual carry-on bags, but few have been submitted. The readers were not impressed.

Joshua from Maine: “It took me a while to find (the contest) on the site. It’s not really a contest if winning is that you own and post their picture on your site. You may consider a time frame and offering an actual prize, such as a free bag. The problem with the contest as it currently stands is that you first have to find the product, then the contest.”

Jen in New York: “I think the owner needs to be very clear on who his intended audience is, and then design the message and site accordingly. I can’t imagine that the ideal customer is the same person that might engage in this contest (photos/videos of funny, weird carry-ons might be more of a college student thing).”

The contest was also featured on SkyRoll’s Facebook page, but that did little to generate interest. “I checked out your Facebook page — obviously something that you want visitors to the site to do since it’s so prominent on the homepage,” wrote LeNerd. “You’ve got people submitting content on the Facebook page, but you’re not responding to them! Granted, you don’t have a large enough fan base yet to get a constant stream, but why would you leave those excited customers hanging out to dry? One person asked about submitting photos for the contest on the Facebook page, and you told them to do it via email instead. Why? It’s so much more compelling to see user-generated content right away!”

Mr. Chernoff Responds

Mr. Chernoff thought most readers missed the point. He was looking for better ways to promote the contest and was surprised how much people were focusing on the presentation of the contest on the Web. “I was not looking for advice on Web site design,” he said. “The Web site is not the vehicle for promoting the contest. Having people write or blog about it is the goal.”

He said it would be difficult to set deadlines for the contest or to offer rewards because, to date, there has only been one entry. “If we get a steady stream of entries and the contest gathers momentum,” he said, “I can see giving away a free SkyRoll every month or so to the best entry.”

He also dismissed the more general comments about the site. “There was a lot of hipster whining about our Web site, but very little actionable advice,” he said. “I disagree with the many comments that say I need a ‘call to action’ and that the site isn’t ‘sales oriented.’ The site is designed to explain a product that is unique and benefits from explanation. It is easy to buy one. There is a ‘Where to buy’ link on the home page and a ‘buy now’ button on each product page.”

My Take

Mr. Chertoff says his goal is to get bloggers to write about the “Crazy Carry-On Contest” because he feels that kind of attention will create buzz, traffic, participation and, ultimately, more sales. But I’m not sure he understands the way bloggers and other “influencers” work.

Some influencers wield enormous power. The reason they enjoy huge audiences is because they provide information that is of real value to their audiences. They succeed because they do their homework and only endorse Web sites and products that they genuinely like and respect.

Every time influencers recommend a site or a product, they put their own credibility on the line. And contrary to what Mr. Chernoff says, his Web site is the most important place for promoting the contest. Unless your  site presents the contest in a creative and fun way, no influencer is going to risk his or her credibility by sending readers to your site.

If Mr. Chernoff is fortunate enough to get bloggers to visit his site, what will they find when they get there?

•    The contest is buried on the bottom navigation of the home page.
•    The contest page looks slapped together.
•    The few photographs posted aren’t particularly “crazy.”
•    The videos have nothing to do with the contest.
•    There are no prizes offered.
•    There is no time frame.

This is not a case of “build it and they will come.” Mr. Chernoff needs to build it extremely well before anyone will come — and recommend that others follow. This will not be cheap and this will not be easy. A Web site and its marketing and promotion are a reflection of the brand behind the site. If a contest looks slapped together, it will all but guarantee that visitors will not come back — and they certainly won’t buy from your site.

While Mr. Chernoff was not looking for a review of his Web site, the site itself is at the heart of the difficulties he has been having. Without a redesign and a more creative and structured approach to the contest, the site will not draw much traffic, the contest will not get much buy-in and visitors will not purchase SkyRolls in  significant numbers.

When conceiving a contest — or any other attempt to drive traffic with user-generated content — it’s important to keep a few things in mind:

•    Make sure the contest aims at an audience of potential and current customers.
•    Give them incentives to contribute (prizes, recognition).
•    Give them reasons to keep coming back (pick daily, weekly, monthly winners or featured contributors).
•    Promote the contest through multiple channels (like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube).
•    Promote the contest on appropriate travel blogs.
•    Create new contests and promotions on a regular basis.

A good example is a contest created by the Irish brewery Guinness. The Guinness Storehouse is a combination museum, visitor center, pub, brewery and restaurant. Thousands of visitors tour the storehouse each year, so Guinness created a contest to encourage visitors to share their photos of the Storehouse online. More than 20,000 people have done so, making the contest an enormous success. The contest offers monthly prizes, and it awards a grand prize of 1,000 pounds. And Guinness actively promotes the contest on its Twitter account.

Here’s the bottom line: Any business that fails to take its online business as seriously as its offline business is committing economic suicide. Introducing a mediocre Web site or online promotion with a minimal budget and little thought is worse than a waste of money. It sends a message that you are unprofessional or incompetent or both. Your Web site can be your single most important marketing and sales tool. Do it right or don’t do it at all.

Would you like to have your business’s Web site or mobile app reviewed? This is an opportunity for companies looking for an honest (and free) appraisal of their online presence and marketing efforts.

To be considered, please tell me about your experiences — why you started your site, what works, what doesn’t and why you would like to have the site reviewed — in an e-mail to youretheboss@bluefountainmedia.com.

Gabriel Shaoolian is the founder and chief executive of Blue Fountain Media, a Web design, development and marketing company based in New York.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=801a5f83aefb4ef3b33ef8d717cc7f5a

Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With: , ,

Bucks Blog: Would You Dare to Ask for a Raise Now?

November 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

It’s hard enough to ask your boss for a raise in normal economic times. So would you be putting yourself at risk if you ask now?

That’s the question that this week’s Your Money column tries to answer. Most of the career experts I spoke with said there was no harm in asking, as long as you could present a strong case and had a solid track record at your job. But they also said it was important to think seriously about how to frame your request, and they offered several tips.

Readers, would you ask for a raise right now? In what circumstances? And how would you go about it? Or if you have already asked, let us know about your experience. Please drop your thoughts in the comment section below.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=15806965dee1d7ee16bd322580b70391

Filed Under: Your Money Tagged With: , ,

You’re the Boss Blog: S.B.A. Loan Questions Answered on C-Span

November 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The Agenda

How small-business issues are shaping politics and policy.

On Monday, The Agenda took to the airwaves to talk about the Small Business Administration’s loan programs. Well, not really the airwaves, as the program appeared on cable. For about 40 minutes on C-Span’s “Washington Journal,” I spoke about the S.B.A.’s record year for lending and answered questions from small-business owners.

Keep in mind, this was my first television appearance ever, save for a cameo on The Floppy Show back in the early 1970s. That is to say, my talent for conversation may be better suited for the radio. I promise to work on my presentation.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=957d3a564fdc9d4ec0c2b377d0d42d2e

Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With: , ,

You’re the Boss Blog: Have You Tried to Hire a C.F.O.?

October 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Alan Maserak needed to hire a C.F.O. so he could manage other aspects of the business better.Mark Perlstein for The New York TimesAlan Maserak needed to hire a C.F.O. so he could manage other aspects of the business better.

Today’s Question

What small-business owners think.

In a small-business guide we’ve just published, Alan Masarek talks about how he decided it was time for his business to hire a chief financial officer.

“Not every company needs a C.F.O.,” said Mr. Masarek, who helped found Quickoffice, a company that sells software that allows users to edit documents on mobile devices. “It depends on how dynamic the business is. I needed to hire someone who could function as my business partner and allow me to step away from the books so I could manage other aspects of the business better.”

The guide concludes that most small businesses would benefit from the skills of an experienced chief financial officer. But of course, the business has to be able to afford the executive and find the right person. Have you tried looking? Please tell us about your experiences.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=5e5cd23fcb59c6b2e49d71bcfaa445f9

Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With: , ,

You’re the Boss Blog: A Restaurant Owner Talks the Talk With His Customers

September 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Start-Up Chronicle

Getting a restaurant off the ground.

I don't understand why I am here.Susan Meisel“I don’t understand why I am here.”

As you might have suspected, I have had many opinions about restaurants over the years, but I have never approached the owner of one of them and told him or her how I would improve his or her life’s work. So it is with admiration and puzzlement that I listen to all the guests who call me to their table or track me down to offer their sage suggestions. While 95 percent of the comments are insightful and positive, those other 5 percent stick to the ribs like a good porterhouse, which we do not serve and which is a constant source of contention.

Almost nightly, someone will tell me how to improve the menu, how to redesign the interior, how to replant the garden, what liquors we ought to carry, how many beers we need on tap, and where the television should go. All of these voluntary advisers, naturally, profess to be doing me a favor, upgrading the establishment while gently upbraiding the owner.

Here are snippets from my conversations, some of my favorite slights, in no particular order.

Guest: This is not bluefish.
Owner: What do you think it is?
Guest: I don’t know, but it can’t be bluefish.
Owner: Why not?
Guest: It’s delicious.

Guest: I just did my taxes.
Owner: You need a drink?
Guest: I have two children, and I spent thousands of dollars at another restaurant last year. I would love to bring them here, but you need some plain pasta.
Owner: We have plain pasta if you want it.
Guest: Not at these prices!

Guest: You need chairs with arms. ABC Carpet has chairs with arms and they’re much more comfortable than your chairs.

Guest: Does your sous vide egg have a yolk?
Owner: Yes.
Guest: Will it run when I eat it?
Owner: Yes.
Guest: Then I will puke, right here on the table.
Owner: How many would you like?

Guest: You call this chicken liver pate? This is too creamy, and it’s under all these vegetables. Chicken liver should never be treated like this. Who wants a chicken liver mousse? Chicken liver should stand on its own, on the side of the plate. Here’s how I would compose a chicken liver plate …

Guest: You need a steak on the menu.
Owner: Why?
Guest: You won’t make it without a steak.
Owner: Are you genuinely interested in our financial stability?
Guest: No, I am not. All I care about is how this restaurant serves me. How often can I eat here. Can I bring my mother here? Will she enjoy herself? That’s all I care about. I don’t care about anything else. I certainly don’t care about you. I don’t even know you.

Guest: You need better champagne.
Owner: What would you suggest?
Guest: I’ll bring my samples around next week. How about Tuesday?

Guest: Your food is exquisite, your service excellent, your ambiance is great, but your prices are too high.
Owner: Do you think the first three things would be true if the last one were not?

Guest: I understand your menu changes often.
Owner: Yes, this week we added blowfish and albacore.
Guest: Do you think it will change a lot next week?
Owner: Depends on what is available. Why?
Guest: Because I have a reservation for next Saturday night and I didn’t like anything I ate tonight.

Guest: You know why I love this place?
Owner: Tell me, please.
Guest: No guilt. I can indulge myself to the max and still feel like I’m saving the planet. Better than therapy! And I can drink too!

Guest: You need a kiddie menu.
Owner: We have a children’s menu.
Guest: How come I never saw it?
Owner: You never came with children.

Guest: This place is almost perfect. Almost.
Owner: I’ll bite, what would make it perfect?
Guest: A flat-screen television.
Owner: Oh.
Guest: Behind the bar.
Owner: I see.
Guest: With America’s favorite game.
Owner: War?
Guest: No, the N.F.L.
Owner: Oh, war substitute.
Guest: Imagine great food, great wine, and Tom Brady. What a trifecta!
Owner: You must be a gambler.
Guest: Wanna bet?

Guest: This is not an amuse bouche.
Owner: Why do you say that?
Guest: There are three things here and they constitute a whole course. Look at the size of those cucumbers. This is not an amuse bouche, sir.
Owner: If you are accusing us of serving too much food, we shall accept your criticism. Thank you. I mean, I’m sorry.

Guest: I can buy the same oysters you do. I don’t understand why I am here.
Owner: I don’t either.

Guest: You need valet parking.
Owner: Okay. Why is that?
Guest: I tripped in the parking lot.
Owner: Tripped over what?
Guest: My own feet.

Guest: Can you move us to another table?
Owner: What are you looking for?
Guest: Different chairs.
Owner: Oh, the chairs are a problem?
Guest: I know, my girlfriend has a big, beautiful bottom.
Owner: I didn’t notice.
Guest: But she can’t deal with the metal chairs. Who can figure this stuff out?

TBD Design

Guest: You need better lighting. I can’t read the menu.
Owner: We have candles and mini flashlights.
Guest: That’s too embarrassing.
Owner: I understand, but here is our dilemma. You read the menu for five minutes while you gaze into the face of your partner for two hours.
Guest: On second thought, the lighting’s fine.

A guy approaches me, raises his hands in front of his face, as if to pray.
Guest: Take off my handcuffs, please.
Owner: What?
Guest: The bar menu is too restrictive. Take off my handcuffs, please.
Owner: Sorry. It’s just a two-course prix fixe with no dessert.
Guest: Attica! Attica!

Guest: You specialize in local stuff, right?
Owner: Yes.
Guest: And you have organic vegetables, right?
Owner: Yes.
Guest: You know what you need?
Owner: I’m about to find out.
Guest: Local art.
Owner: Oh.
Guest: Photographs. You have lots of spaces here that would be enhanced by photographs of old farms and old tractors and old boats.
Owner: Do you know where I could get these photographs?
Guest: Here’s my card.

Guest: We met you at the charity event last week.
Owner: Yes, I remember. Nice to see you.
Guest: We came for the scallops sashimi we had there.
Owner: Sorry, we’re not serving them tonight.
Guest: But that’s why we’re here.
Owner: We have a lot of other equally good fish dishes.
Guest: You can’t do that. You gave them away, they were delicious, we came here for the scallops, and you don’t have any? That’s shameful. That’s false advertising. You’ll never see us again.

Guest: I ordered the soft shell crab.
Owner: I think you have it.
Guest: When I order soft shell crabs, I want soft shell crabs. Not an egg, not spinach and onion and fennel and radish and black olives — just soft shell crabs.
Owner: It lists all those items on the menu.
Guest: That’s beside the point.

Guest: You need a salmon and avocado salad here.
Owner: We don’t serve salmon.
Guest: It’s easy to make. I made one for lunch today.
Owner: We don’t have avocado either.
Guest: Want me to show your chef how?
Owner: I would love to see that. Unfortunately, the chef is not here right now.

Guest: One complaint. Too much treif.
Owner: Shalom.

Guest: I love your place. But you need a bigger sign out front, more lights in the parking lot, and the entrance should be in the front of the building. Who ever heard of an entrance in the rear?
Owner: No comment.

Guest: How can you force me to have dessert?
Owner: We can’t.
Guest: But I am paying for it on the prix fixe.
Owner: You can take it home for later or tomorrow. The cheese plate, the cookies, several desserts travel very well.
Guest: Take it home? You kidding? I’m starving.

Guest: The booths are not very comfortable. You need to soften them, line them with cushions. I’m pretty sore.
Owner: How long have you been here?
Guest: Three hours.

Chris Koszyk

Guest: I wanted the mussels.
Owner: They’re delicious, a little on the spicy side.
Guest: I ordered the sardines.
Owner: Why is that?
Guest: You don’t have French fries.
Owner: I know.
Guest: You cannot expect anyone to eat mussels without French Fries.

Guest: I tried the clam chowder and it was inedible.
Owner: I am sorry.
Guest: I tried the arctic char and sent it back.
Owner: I am sorry again.
Guest: I am going to try the mussels now.
Guest’s husband: Or we could just go to McDonald’s and be done with it.

Guest: You need more vegetarian entrees.
Owner: We have three.
Guest: You do? Where?
Owner: It says right there on the menu, near the bottom, “vegetarian dishes on request.”
Guest: Then you need larger type and better lights.

Guest: When I called at 7, the woman said there were no tables available at 7:30.
Owner: As you can see, we’re filling up.
Guest: I asked about the bar and she said no reservations at the bar.
Owner: The bar is for walk-ins. Like you. You just walked in and you’re eating at the bar.
Guest: But I’m not happy about it.

Guest: Why don’t you have wild salmon?
Owner: It comes from Alaska.
Guest: But it fits your profile.
Owner: Large carbon footprint.
Guest: Salmon have feet?

Guest: This is America, right?
Owner: Right.
Guest: Then why don’t you have steak on the menu?
Owner: We don’t have steak because we are a sustainable seafood restaurant, and beef is not an indigenous Long Island product, and we’d have to buy half a cow, and we have neither the storage space nor the clientele large enough to support that much beef, and we have no need for by-products like beef stock and hamburger, and if we bought industrial steak, it would be mediocre, and if we purchased grass-fed, heritage beef, we’d have to raise our prices, and there are plenty of restaurants in the area with good steaks, and we don’t necessarily believe that beef is all that good for the planet or the persons living on it.
Guest: How about lamp chops?

Bruce Buschel owns Southfork Kitchen, a restaurant in Bridgehampton, N.Y.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=a0be4e2fc01127e38cf0bf3b21febb3c

Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With: , ,

You’re the Boss Blog: Would you consider SecondMarket to Finance Your Business?

September 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Today’s Question

What small-business owners think.

In his column today, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes about how SecondMarket is serving as something of an eBay for shares of private companies.

Mr Sorkin explains what Barry Silbert, chief executive, had in mind when he started SecondMarket:

Mr. Silbert, who looks even younger than his 35 years, set out in 2004 to create a market for secondary shares, allowing private companies that are often too small to go public to have their employees and investors sell their shares on an exchange.

His exchange allows for certain rules that the public market does not: a company selling shares on SecondMarket can choose which investors are allowed to buy — weeding out fast-buck artists — and how frequently they can trade those shares. If a company wants to allow investors to trade their shares only twice a year on specific dates, that’s fine.

The benefits are obvious: employees and investors can cash out some of their stakes without having to go through the formal and rigorous process of an initial public offering. That, in turn, can allow traditionally cash-poor pre-I.P.O. employees, for example, to afford to stay at an emerging company that might not be ready to pursue an I.P.O. until it matures some more.

Would you consider using SecondMarket to finance your company?

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=4b2298062f1b4ece5ee3c10c9ce0a74a

Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With: , ,

You’re the Boss Blog: Discriminating Against the Unemployed?

September 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

You’re the Boss offers an insider’s perspective on small-business ownership. It gives business owners a place where they can compare notes, ask questions, get advice, and learn from one another’s mistakes. Its contributors also interpret news events, track political and policy issues, and suggest investing tips.

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Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=d39827502d0f4173bb3367e652974036

Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With: , ,

Thinking Entrepreneur: Ten Years Later, An E-Mail From The Employee I Wanted to Forget

September 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Thinking Entrepreneur

An owner’s dispatches from the front lines.

On paper, business is about marketing, management and finance. In reality, it is also about relationships: the good, the bad and the ugly.

If your business is growing, you are always adding employees. Some work out great, some work out O.K., some don’t work out at all. And some end in disaster. Those are the ones who can stick with you for a very long time. Among the hundreds of employees I’ve had over the years, there is only one that I have consistently avoided thinking about or talking about. And it’s not the one that you might suspect. It’s not the thief, the embezzler, the liar or the sexual harasser. It’s not the one that was laziest, most careless or most irresponsible.

In those categories, I have become numb. Or just experienced. I have learned that if you hire enough people, on your way to hiring a great staff, you are eventually going to go through all of those types. And I have learned not to take things personally (usually). If people steal, it’s because they wanted money. They were not necessarily out to get you. And even if they were out to get you, it comes with the territory. You are the boss. There’s something different about being the boss. To some people, it’s almost as if you aren’t really human. Anything goes.

But as I said, one person has stuck with me all of these years. About 10 years to be exact. I almost never talk about him; I can barely stand to think about him. It is not that he was the worst employee I ever had. He wasn’t. It wasn’t that he caused me the most grief. He didn’t. It isn’t that I am mad at him. I’m not. Actually, I have been mad at myself — or embarrassed with myself — for getting into a situation that ended badly. He probably only worked for me for six months. Like me, his father owned a picture-frame shop, and we both thought we could use the Internet to revolutionize the way custom frame shops advertise nationally. Like FTD. I hired him to start a new business. He seemed passionate and committed. To some extent, he reminded me of me.

Starting a new business can be intoxicating, and he became the entrepreneurial version of a drinking buddy. I treated him like my own. Of course, as I’ve written before, passion does not conquer all. The fact is, the guy was in his mid-20s, and I should not have expected him to spearhead this venture. I gave him enough rope to hang himself — not the only time I’ve made this mistake — and that’s exactly what he did. He was a kid, perhaps even a confused kid.

Things started happening. He was careless. He didn’t treat people well. We went to a national trade show, and he acted like a 14-year-old. I realized that he had to go. From what I remember, there was no ugly screaming (maybe a little). It was more like a sad divorce where the parties just go their separate ways. The business failed, through no fault of his. What seemed like a good idea wasn’t. If you look at my bio, you will see that I own five businesses. I have started 10. Failure is my friend. I have learned more from failure than I have from success.

So why am I thinking about this now? It’s not because I’ve been torturing myself. I’ve gotten better about that. I’ve made enough mistakes that indulging regret could be a full-time job. The reason I’m thinking about this is an e-mail — an e-mail I just got from this kid I hadn’t heard from in 10 years. He told me he was doing well, had gotten married and had a good job. He made clear that he expected nothing in return, not even a reply. He has been reading this blog, and he decided that he needed to send me an apology and an explanation. He wrote, in part: “I’m sure that you are less interested in how I’m doing than as to why I would feel compelled to write you all these years later. The answer is simple: I owe you. I owe you a more mature, more sincere apology. … I treated your employees and family disrespectfully. I was not ready for the gifts you gave me, the company credit card or the business that I proposed we create together. I was overwhelmed by the sudden acceptance and trust you gave to me and rather than build upon it, I acted to destroy it.”

At first, I thought that he must be in one of the 12-step recovery programs that send people back to apologize to everyone they have wronged. But I don’t think that is the case. And this wasn’t just any e-mail. It was a well written, eloquent, gut-wrenching e-mail. Clearly, this had been bothering him. Two of the sentences really hit a nerve: “You were not a fool. I was an …” — he used another word for jerk. “I’m sorry, Jay. I’m so, so sorry to this very day.” It’s not so much that I needed him to tell me that I wasn’t a fool — I was a fool. But his acknowledging that he had been a jerk and that he felt bad about it made a difference to me. It made me feel better.

As a matter of fact, I feel a lot better. I now realize that just because you try and fail with someone doesn’t mean you are a fool. It means you are a boss. There doesn’t have to be guilt, regret or any of the other things that human beings have to suffer. You can just move on and try to do better. In the last 10 years, I have also recognized that I’m an entrepreneuraholic. Now, I’m a recovering entrepreneuraholic. I no longer have to start every business I think of (I write for this blog instead).

So, to answer your question, I did reply to his e-mail. I thanked him, and I gave him a full pardon. He has grown up. And so have I. The fact is, he redeemed both of us.

Am I the only one who has had this kind of unfinished business?

Jay Goltz owns five small businesses in Chicago.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=cf5c5c9171e004818fc9d148eb79363f

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You’re the Boss Blog: Can Small-Business Owners Handle the Truth?

September 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Transaction

Putting a price on business.

About two years ago I told a business owner a number of things she wasn’t ready to hear about the sale of her business. She was disappointed with our meeting, called later to tell me she disagreed with what I had said, then listed her business for sale with one of my competitors. I didn’t lose much sleep over it at the time. In fact, I happened to admire both her and her business, and I slept better knowing that I had told her what I thought.

After her contract expired with the other broker, her business still unsold, she called me again. What she said to me was something I’ve been told by other business owners in a roundabout way in the past. But on some level I had been waiting to hear the sentiment expressed in the exact words she used on the phone: “I appreciate you telling me the truth.”

There seem to be two camps when it comes to hearing unpleasant truths (whether it has to do with politics, relationships or business) — those who want you to give it to them straight, so they can roll up their sleeves and do something about it, and those who want none of it. Reality can be hard to accept, especially when it comes to your business. A recent article asked business owners to share their stories about a business that didn’t make it. One former owner couldn’t talk to the reporter when asked to contribute. “I don’t know if I could make it through your questions,” she said in the article. “I might just cry and cry.” It had been 10 years since her business had failed.

When my husband and I opened our business brokerage firm after selling our own business in 2006, I thought I’d be helping entrepreneurs achieve an incredibly joyous and lucrative milestone in their lives — the sale of their business. There would be high fives and hugs amid popping champagne corks. Unfortunately, this is not the case as often as I would like. Much of my time is spent on the less glamorous tasks of educating business owners on how the marketplace will view — and value — their business, and helping them set realistic expectations for the arduous process of selling. In short, I’ve had to learn the fine art of being a downer.

Along with the huge upside of cashing out and moving on, there can be many unpleasant realities associated with the sale of your business. Businesses tend to be valued at much less than the seller had anticipated, family members and employees feel betrayed, Uncle Sam takes a depressingly large cut of the deal, and even in the best possible scenario the seller can feel a deep sense of loss.

In the world of business exits there is something known as “the value gap.” This is defined as the dollar amount between what the seller wants — or needs — and what the business is really worth to a buyer. It’s a fairly straightforward, quantitative exercise to figure out what it would take to fill the gap. Figure out what multiple of earnings would result in the owner’s desired value, determine the corresponding increases in revenue and profit required, then plan the necessary operational changes to achieve those targets. But there is a mental and emotional component to this process that is harder to fill.

Because it’s so much easier to place blame, I believe that the media are partly at fault for creating this perceptual gap. All of those examples of the guy who started a fabulous business in his dorm-room closet and sold it to Google for millions (without turning a profit) may be harmful. While I am as awestruck as any reader, these stories are far from the ham-and-egg reality of what most small-business owners go through when selling. Looking to those magazine headlines for any semblance of what it’s like to sell a business is like reading a romance novel for marriage advice.

Perhaps it’s human nature to want to be deceived. But denial in the business world can be costly. Selling a business is a high-stakes game in more ways than one. I asked that business owner — whose plans for the future had to be shelved for two years while she was stuck in her business — if there was anything I could have said or done that would have been helpful during our initial conversation. She said no, and admitted that she simply needed to learn a long, hard lesson.

In the meantime, I continue to try to close the gap between perception and reality when it comes to selling a business. And while some people walk away, I’m okay with that. Evidently, some of those people come back when they’re ready.

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You’re the Boss Blog: Step by Step With an Automated Start-Up

September 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Hari Kaur: mixing yoga and jazz with a start-up.Courtesy of Hari NYC.Hari Kaur: mixing yoga and jazz with a start-up.

Tech Support

What small-business owners need to know about technology.

In my last post, I described a Web-based service called Wicked Start that can bring a measure of automation to the process of getting a new business off the ground. Wicked Start lays out a sort of template for each of 10 major steps in starting a company, suggesting ways to proceed, pointing out what might be overlooked, and offering various resources and advice. I also briefly mentioned a Wicked Start user: Hari Kaur, a yoga instructor who four months ago opened her own jazz-yoga studio in Manhattan, called Hari NYC. Ms. Kaur tried the Web site at the suggestion of one of her yoga students, who just happens to be the founder of Wicked Start, Bryan Janeczko.

I thought it might be interesting to take a closer look at how Wicked Start proved useful to Ms. Kaur, so for this follow-up post I asked her to walk me through some of the steps that the site took her through. Wicked Start’s 10-step program is laid out on a single Web page called “the Road Map.” At the top of the road map is a progress-tracking bar that tells you at a glance how close you’ve come to completing the entire process. Ms. Kaur’s tracker indicates that she’s 60 percent complete. She noted that she had jumped around among the 10 modules in the road map that represent the 10 start-up steps — Wicked Start doesn’t pressure you to do things in order, or to do all the steps, or to do any of the steps in a particular way. But let’s take them in order, anyway.

The first step, “Starting Block,” asks basic questions like, “What is your idea?” “What is your business model?” and “Who is your competition?” Ms. Kaur said that, having been in the yoga business for 20 years, she was able to breeze through this step. Same for Step 2, “Industry,” which prompts you to identify your industry, network with knowledgeable people, and get some experience. Wicked Start tracks progress in each of the modules, and Ms. Kaur has completed 100 percent of these two steps.

For each suggested action within a module, the site provides the option of checking off a “not applicable” box, so that the program won’t nag you about completing it. If you’re creating a truly solo company, for example, you don’t need to get up to speed on hiring. When Ms. Kaur came to Step 3, “Prototype,” which pushes you to think through and create sample versions of your product or service, her first impulse was to give it an N.A. “I’ve been teaching classes a long time, I didn’t think this applied to me,” she said. “But I decided to try it as an exercise in being more concrete about my plans.”

The results were eye-opening. Ms. Kaur had vaguely imagined that in contrast to typical yoga studios, where classes are back-to-back and large enough to keep as many students moving through the studio as possible, her studio would be a more relaxed, intimate place where a smaller number of students could sit around and talk before and after class. But when the prototype questions pushed her to fill in details like the number of classes, class length and size and how the space would be used, Ms. Kaur realized that keeping revenue high enough could be a problem if she weren’t careful about managing the talk. “I hadn’t been thinking about the concept as a product,” she said. “I realized I needed help in figuring out what I had to do to meet my business needs and still keep my idea.” That help would come in other modules.

Step 4, “Corporate Structure,” seemed simple enough. She already used an accountant to help her with taxes, and she figured she’d just do the routine accounting herself by hand in a book, as she always had as an instructor.

But Step 5, “Business Plan,” got Ms. Kaur thinking again. She said she thought it mostly applied to someone who needed to raise money — she’s self-financing — or who was setting up a more complex manufacturing business. But she followed the prompt to come up with vision and mission statements, and got business-plan religion. Her vision statement emphasized nurturing creativity through a blend of yoga, the arts, and service to those in need, and that in turn led to a mission statement that made music and theater performance and a formal program of volunteer service part of her business plan. “It helped me to see how the different parts of my vision could be connected,” she said. “I hadn’t realized until then how well yoga, jazz and service to others go together.”

A screen shot of Wicked Start's funding page.A screen shot of Wicked Start’s financing page.

Ms. Kaur skipped Step 6, “Funding,” and went to Step 7, “Business Infrastructure,” though with some trepidation. “The nuts and bolts of a business are not my strength,” she said.

But the module pulled her through setting up her office one step at a time. It nudged her to plan out how her space would be laid out, helping her to realize she needed to create a welcoming, efficient entrance area differentiated from the active class space. It also guided her through choosing computers — she’s getting a MacBook Pro for the office, so it can be folded and placed beneath the desk when not in use to make the front area less cluttered, and a lightweight MacBook Air to carry around.

Wicked Start also offers links at every step to a “resources” page that provides descriptions of and links to businesses that can provide relevant services, and the technology advice led her to Toktumi, a $14.95-per month Internet-based phone system with a number of features tailored for small businesses. “I didn’t know that kind of service existed,” she said. “It looks wonderful, I’m signing up.”

One action item in the infrastructure module prompted her to set up financial controls and a budget, and though she had a budget and was keeping accounting books, she decided she needed to do more. “We weren’t keeping good track of our expenses and budget on an ongoing basis,” she said. Now she’s signing up for Intuit’s QuickBooks online accounting service. She’s been putting off setting it up, but Wicked Start pushed her to enter a deadline for the action. She has selected Sept. 30 and is planning to stick to it. She now has a completion level of 57 percent for the module.

Step 8 is “Hiring,” and the revelation here for Ms. Kaur was that she should set up a board of advisers. “I love this idea,” she said. “I need help understanding how I can plan out my classes to build in talk time, I need help with finance, and I need help with how I can set up a volunteer network of students.” Now she’s inviting a mix of business and non-profit executives and entrepreneurs to join her board, and already has some takers who she thinks will be sources of great advice.

“Operations” is Step 9, and Wicked Start led her to decide to take on Basecamp, the online project-planning and collaboration service. “I love chaos, so I tend to push the limits of not planning,” she said. “But I think this will really help with my long-range training programs and community projects.”

Finally, there’s “Marketing,” Step 10. Ms. Kaur felt this module mostly served to reinforce the strategy she had intuitively adopted, namely to promote herself via word of mouth, especially online. She built her Web site herself via WordPress – it’s pretty impressive, considering — and started three blogs, along with Twitter and Facebook accounts. The module also prompted her to think about her branding, and that led her to speak to a branding specialist who helped her focus on the homey aspects of her studio compared to other yoga studios, and on her interest in being of special help to women.

But she still needs to act on Wicked Start’s suggestions that she open a merchant account and set up a formal process for dealing with customer service — she has them marked as “in progress.” Fair enough. When is a business owner ever 100 percent done?

You can follow David H. Freedman on Twitter and on Facebook.

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