One of the most expensive lessons I learned in business was how to manage my relationship with my lawyer. It’s one of the many things that I could have learned from a good mentor - if I wasn’t too timid to go out and find one. So if you’re an entrepreneur and don’t have a mentor - go find one. In the meantime, I hope that these musings on dealing with lawyers will help you accomplish your goals more efficiently and save you a few nickels along the way.

Don’t (always) listen to your lawyer

It is your lawyer’s job to tell you about all of the potential pitfalls of a new deal. Your lawyer is going to point out every way the deal could go sour and suggest that you protect yourself accordingly. This is their job and I think it’s an absolutely necessary part of entering into a contract with another party. Realize that protecting against each and every eventuality will add to the: (1) length of the negotiations and (2) complexity of the contract. From my experience, if you don’t choose to pick your battles, negotiations become strained and the cost of drafting the contract skyrockets. Seek advice about all of the potential pitfalls and then choose which ones you really want to fight for.

The clock is running

Lawyers make their living by tracking something called billable hours. That means every interaction with the client is billed. If you just want an opinion about some non-legal facet of your deal - seek out the advice of friends and colleagues first. Your network should be able to give you some guidance when it comes to how to solve non-legal issues. As mentioned above, a mentor is another perfect place to turn. Treat your lawyer as a specialist - not as a sounding board. Remember that you’ll pay for literally every minute of their time.

When you’ve decided to enter a contract with another party, I would suggest that you come up with a detailed agreement in principle before you get the lawyers involved. Then employ your lawyer to codify your intentions in legal speak. A lawyer is absolutely necessary - but only involve them when you and the other party understand exactly what you want to accomplish.

If the negotiations are becoming overly messy with a lot of back and forth, another tactic may be useful. Get the two parties in the same room with their lawyers. A 2 hour meeting with both lawyers talking will help to efficiently address concerns and could save you a lot of money in the long run.

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Not really that complicated, is it? Yet if someone had just told me these things when I started my business, I would be a good deal richer today.

Technorati Tags: law, entrepreneur, contract, negotiation, legal

An old friend of mine once told me that when he worked as an executive at the Power Corporation, he had two desks - one in front of his chair - and one behind it. Many of the executives had the same office configuration. One desk was to be used for all day-to-day activities and the other was to be used for long-term, big picture planning.

I think entrepreneurs often get bogged down in the day-to-day activities of the business. Some part of your business is (it seems) always in crisis mode: an important customer is unhappy, a project is behind schedule, or your best employee just announced that she’s moving on. Personally I’ve always shyed away from big picture planning because somehow it just doesn’t seem like real work. It feels removed from the activities that make a business function. To sit and plan seems like something you should be doing when you’ve grown your company so others can take over the day-to-day operations.

This is the wrong attitude.

To be successful, you have to be relentless in your planning and integrate it into your management of your business. I can’t take credit for all the ideas on how to do this (thanks Mr. Lakein, Mr. Ferrazzi, Mr. Wells and Mr. Lank) but I’ll summarize what I’ve learned so you can digest it in the next 45 to 90 seconds.

Set Measurable Goals

Whether your planning the next ten years of your career or that of your business, you must have goals. Goals should be challenging so you really have to work to achieve them. More importantly, they should be measurable so that you can assess how you’re doing. Select a group of indicators, some qualitative, some quantitative that you’ll use to measure your progress. Be selective in choosing indicators that really matter and that you have control over.

Action Plan

Each week I sit down and write out a list of activities that I’m going to accomplish. Next I assess how those tasks relate to my goals. Then I spend the majority of my working day on those activities most directly related to my goals. A To Do List is essential. I also find it helpful to break down those large activities into “process steps” or small easily doable tasks to take some of the dread out of those big projects. Activities unrelated to your goals can and should be put off.

Measure Your Results

It seems silly to have to write this point but I know that I’m terrible at this. Planning the next five years of your life can be a fun, invigorating exercise - measuring your progress (or lack thereof) is not. That’s why I think it’s important to set aside a time each year when you sit down and evaluate your progress. I also use this time to reassess and often change my goals.

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One of my friends jokes that I have a passion for planning. This is partially true. I love the idea of it but I find it hard to practice on a daily basis. So don’t get discouraged if you aren’t able to get as much done today as you would’ve liked. I’m still struggling with this whole process too.

Technorati Tags: entrepreneur, smallbusiness, planning, timemanagement, goals, todo

Over the past seven years, I’ve been running my own company and have managed the website creation process both as a designer/programmer and as a consultant. Small firms have limited resources. Many undoubtedly don’t realize just how limited their resources are. I remember being shocked when I submitted a proposal to Red Hat’s consulting group and was told my project would cost over $125,000. When dealing with limited resources, the most important thing to manage is your expectations. I hope this little guide can get you off on the right track.

Separate needs from wants

Separate those features that are absolutely essential from those that are considered ‘cool’. ‘Cool’ ideas will bankrupt you if they’re not tied to the potential of increased profit. If you’re going to build something, get an idea of what it costs to build the essentials. The ‘cool’ stuff can come later when you’ve got the money for it. Don’t get me wrong - if a feature is intimately tied to your branding initiatives but doesn’t directly drive revenue then you may consider it essential. Just check yourself if you start a sentence with “Wouldn’t it be cool if..”.

Hire the right developer

Not an easy task. Every developer in the world will tell you that they can build anything you want. You must be vigilant in hiring people who have created sites that you consider to be good work. If they’re just getting started or have a portfolio of so-so sites - you can bet your life that your site is going to look half-ass and fail to function as you intend it to. Check those references and be wary of developers who come back with quotes that are surprisingly low. (I so want to link “surprisingly low” but I don’t want to get sued.)

Be very specific in your demands

Developers have been known to take the easy way out of a problem and then will charge you for “changing the specification” when you demand that it is done right. For example, our developers created a Checkout area without any reasonable attention to detail. It was impossible to navigate. To fix it, they wanted us to pay and pay dearly. If you can take the time to produce mockups, it will pay off in the long run.

Ease of use should be priority number one

Assume the average web user is the stupidest person you’ve ever met. Make your user interface as easy to navigate as possible. Label everything. If you don’t (trust me on this one) you’ll receive emails asking how to use your site.

Think about back office integration

When designing the website - think about how it’s going to integrate into your accounting software, your warehouse processes and your daily management of the business. What reports do you need? Developers will attempt to sell you on an expensive, no fuss solution. This may be full of value but, then again, it may not. Not every business can afford real-time integration. Sometimes it just means downloading a text file at the end of every business day and importing it into your accounting software. This extra 90 seconds of labor is perhaps worth saving $20,000 in development. “Real-time” is real expensive.

Platform

The platform is a fancy term for what shell you’re going to build your site on. If your site is something altogether new, then choosing the language to develop in and supporting technologies can be discussed with your developers. Ask about software costs. These are ongoing costs that will drive you insane. And be careful - sometimes these are built into the hosting prices.

If your site is a new take on an existing style of website (for example: ecommerce store, auction site, blog) then you can probably find a solution out there that meets most of your needs. There are a lot of small companies that do a pretty good job of providing a basic application that can be fully customized.

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Phew. Glad I got that off my chest. This is by no means a comprehensive look at how to manage the development of your company’s first website - but it should provide you with some useful food for thought along the way.

Technorati Tags: webdevelopment, developer, management, smallbusiness, entrepreneur

My stepfather is a pretty simple man. Whenever it’s time to buy any of us kids (I’m 31 now) a gift, he asks simply “Where do you want your gift certificate from?” I like this trait because I’m a pretty simple man myself. This year I suggested Amazon.ca.

There’s one problem - I thought to myself - my stepfather is going to have trouble ordering this thing online. He has a computer and likes to manage his stocks online - but that’s where his online experience ends. When talking to him he sounded a little intimidated but I told him he could always call me if he was having trouble.

I was amazed when I received his email gift certificate and a note that said… “Hope you get this… boy that was easy.” Easy! Did he say easy? I think this is how we want our customers to feel whenever they’re trying to spend a little money. My goal is always to design with ease of use as priority number one. Amazon can teach us a little in that regard.

Check out their gift certificate form - by clicking here. Here’s what I love about it:

No clutter

Amazon have replaced their extensively linked header with just an image of their logo. If you look closely, it’s actually pretty hard to navigate away from this page. This reduces the visual clutter and focuses the user on the form. Now is not the time to suggest a great new book or video - when someone is ready to buy - let them buy. Design the form to encourage the purchase decision.

Clear Instructions

Over each form element there are explicit instructions on how to complete it. My guess is that some of us probably think this is a bit of overkill. I think it is unwise to fall into that trap. Whenever I’m designing, I try to think how each phrase could be misconstrued. If there’s a chance your phrase can be misunderstood - reword it. If there’s a form element that could use an explanation - provide one. Think of the most easily confused person you’ve ever met - and design with them in mind.

Number Your Steps

Your user is never going to ask “Did I miss something?” if you number your form elements. It’s simple but crucial because it helps to relax the user by providing a clear roadmap to follow.

Directed Navigation

Amazon doesn’t give the user a “Back” or a “Cancel” button. Instead the user is only prompted to “Continue”. This guides the user through the process. The user is reassured that she can cancel the order in the future. Amazon moves the user through the process - and doesn’t give them a choice.

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What’s amazing about this page is just how simple it is. I’m sure there are a lot of companies out there who wouldn’t dare put a page with so little polish (graphics) on their site. I can hear the graphic designers talking about how ugly it is. Nonetheless, this is a great example of interface design because it is focused squarely on the user. It’s almost impossible, even for my stepfather, to screw up.

For a more general look at how to design forms, check out this great article from the good folks at A List Apart.

Technorati Tags: usability, customerexperience, marketing, amazon, interfacedesign