Category: Business

Embracing Small

Why is it that many companies intentionally try to appear larger than they are? I’ve witnessed this at several companies, but one comes to mind because it was done in such a blatant manner.

I’m not talking about a small exaggeration now and then either. Our company website was an absolute work of fiction. We were a group of 35 working to support events around the globe. But after our manger got hold of the copy, that number nearly doubled. Suddenly, we were backed by a corporate behemoth with an unlimited army of skilled workers. The fabrications grew more outlandish as our workforce shrank in size to the point where the manager made “Baghdad Bob” appear credible.

It was a joke that undermined our credibility with our clients. Worse, it undermined what little trust the manager had earned with his employees. If he’d fabricate something so trivial, what else would he be willing to do?

Since starting Ox Consulting, I’ve wondered if our size would hinder our growth if potential clients pulled back the curtain only two find two people doing the work.

But over time, I’ve come to embrace our smallness. On a recent call, a new client was surprised to hear we would be the ones creating her website. At one point, she said, “I’m sure you’ll pass this on to your team who does the work.” I laughed and replied, “That would be us. We are team of two.”

She didn’t pack up and take her business elsewhere nor has anyone else.

I take my cars to a small repair shop to be serviced. The dealership is nearby, but I prefer the small shop because I can speak with the technician working on my car. When I recently had a set of brakes replaced the technician took the time to explain the difference in various brake pads and rotors. I’ve never experienced that level of engagement at the dealership.

Remaining small does have its drawbacks.

We must carefully select the clients we work with. That means occasionally turning down projects. We know what size projects we can knock out of the park, and those tend to be smaller ones we can complete in days instead of months. Clients who are thrilled with their new site tend to tell their friends which leads to more projects. If you’re merely satisfied with a product, do you tell anyone? I don’t.

A larger company can absorb the occasional high maintenance client. That’s not the case with us where one such client can bring all projects to a screeching halt.

I assumed we were in the business of creating customized websites for small businesses. That’s actually the easy part.

We are in the listening business.
We are in the bounce your crazy ideas off us business.
We are in the help me overcome my fear of writing business.

But more than anything, we are in the pat on the back, keep going, you can do it business.

Hanging Our Shingle

This past week, I did something I’ve wanted to do for years: I started a consulting business with a friend. Brandon and I have worked together since 2004 and have collaborated on a number of projects over the years.

When friends and family ask what it is we do, I’m not sure what I should tell them. But, in short, Brandon brings years of design experience to the partnership while I focus on WordPress training and consulting. We’ve combined our skills to help small businesses and individuals create a professional looking web presence minus the three-hour recurring meetings and complex project plans.

We’ve worked on large and complex projects that take months to complete. But projects that size are not our focus.  Instead, we are focused on small projects. Small businesses move quickly. They don’t have large budgets or months to spend creating new branding, logos and blogs. We’ve found that their needs match up well with our skills. So we decided to make it official and create a business.

In that regard, we started Ox Consulting with this in mind, and are tackling projects we can complete in a few days instead of a new months. Without having to sacrifice quality.

 Ox

We are nowhere near being able to quit our day jobs. Maybe down the road. But today I’m enjoying getting to meet people who are full of passion, energy and big ideas. Large companies have layers of bureaucracy. Making even small changes to a color scheme requires meetings, approvals and delays. Contrast that with working alongside the owner of a small business who likes the new logo we created, and in minutes, says, “Let’s go with it!”

There’s a raw excitement being around those who put everything on the line to chase their dreams. I love sitting across from someone listening to why they decided to drop off the corporate ladder, and try to make it on their own. Many are working more hours than ever before and loving it.

Brandon and I are taking things slow. That means turning down projects that aren’t in our wheel-house or would require we put other projects on hold for months on end.

We’ve also noticed that short timelines result in fewer meetings and status updates and a higher likelihood that both parties will satisfied with the work.

Of course, if your needs aren’t a good match for us, we’ll always try to recommend someone who is.

“The Modern Workplace is Optimized for Interruptions”

I found myself nodding in agreement with every one of Jason’s observations about today’s workplace. When I must finish writing a review or need an hour or two to concentrate without any interruptions, I have to remove myself from the office. Most of the actual work I do is done at the cafeteria or at home because I can put on headphones and block out the world.

http://video.bigthink.com/player.js?width=516&embedCode=03NG42MTqVnn6kOnuDv8k_iDC2HEGniT&height=290&deepLinkEmbedCode=03NG42MTqVnn6kOnuDv8k_iDC2HEGniT&autoplay=0

Signs of the Economy

When I moved to Auburn, WA just over three years ago, one of the main roads leading into town was filled with new and used car dealerships.  Today a few of the largest dealers along auto row remain such as Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen, but many of the smaller, independent ones are empty.

But today, I noticed one of the larger and newest dealers had stopped selling cars. The Nissan dealership couldn’t have been more than a couple years old. The building and sign look brand new. But not a sign of a single new or used car for sale. Not to mention the jobs that just disappeared.

According to the sign in the lower left corner, the service department is still open although I don’t know if that’s still the case. It wasn’t open when I took this picture this afternoon.

nissan

This next picture was taken across the street from the main Nissan building that sold new cars. This is the used car lot for the same dealer. All the cars had been removed, but they left the blue sign on the grass that says, “SALE”. 

No Nissans for sale here. But the yellow sign hanging off the adjacent car dealer said something about getting a Suzuki for $189/month. I’ll pass.

nissan2

I wonder what auto row will look like in 6 months or a year from now? Will the Honda, Toyota and VW dealerships survive? As I drove back home I noticed a couple browsing cars at the Honda dealer. I didn’t see a single person looking at cars at Toyota or VW. Many dealerships displayed banners touting low interest rates or large rebates. One said, “YES, we have money to lend!!”

Hoods were opened, parking lights were illuminated on and balloons flew from antennas attached to new cars.

It’s hard to imagine these tactics will attract many buyers in this economy.

The Carwash

We have two carwashes in Auburn. Both provide the same services. Both are well-kept. Both are about the same distance from my house. I don’t give much thought when deciding between the two. I usually end up at the one closest to where I am running errands which happens to be the newer carwash.

But last Saturday I was running errands closer to the older carwash. After I sprayed off my car I pulled over near the vacuums to dry it.

That’s when an older man dressed in cowboy boots and a western hat approached me. I assumed he was going to ask if I was interested in buying a set of speakers. At a fantastically low price, of course!

But he wasn’t selling anything.

He introduced himself and asked if I had everything I needed to clean my car. I asked if he was the owner and he nodded. He told me he recently bought the carwash because he liked being around people. He recently retired and this would give him somewhere to spend his days.

He told me he appreciated my business. He asked if I had any suggestions on how he could improve the carwash. I told him everything was fine except the soap came out too thick on the brush. He said he’d take a look. Maybe it needed to be thinned out.

He listened more than he talked. He seemed genuinely interested in my feedback. He shook my hand and thanked me again.

In all the years I’ve washed my cars, I’ve never once been thanked for my patronage.

In an era where so much customer interaction is being outsourced to everything except a human being, it’s refreshing doing business with a person rather than a computer or machine.

But today this new owner won me over. When I have a choice, I’ll always go where I feel appreciated.

And I’ll tell my friends.

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Underpants Gnomes Business Model

Is your company built on a business model similar to that of the Underpants Gnomes who introduced their innovative business model during the 2nd season of South Park?

image 

I worked for a couple (Rocketpipe, Petplace) of start-ups that were built on such a model. We were collecting users (we called it “building community) instead of underpants and were hoping to figure out how we could parlay that into profit. Yet we had NO IDEA what Phase 2 would entail. We had an idea and figured eventually it would lead to big profits so why bother bridging the idea to profit with a plan of any kind?

One would assume this type of business plan would have been shelved after the first internet bubble, but that doesn’t appear to be the case with hundreds of startups springing to life on an idea and a prayer. It’s that pesky phase 2 that’s the killer.

What companies come to mind when you think of this business model? Technorati? Twitter? Mahalo?