It seems like a no-brainer, but taking the time to root out stupid routines can mean the difference between a company’s success and failure

Finding inefficiencies in my business is something that drives me nuts, but so often it doesn’t make sense to fix them.   One of the hardest things I’ve had to learn is that sometimes it’s ok if a business process doesn’t work perfectly.  There are so many things that we don’t do at all or that we don’t do well, so I try to focus my time on fixing the major problems.  Once we get other things working more smoothly, we’ll come back through and try and clean up the things that we missed on the first pass.  I know that’s how ’stupid routines’ get ingrained, but at this point in our company growth, I have to pick my battles.

Technical experts need to be viewed and developed as business professionals early in their careers; at the speed of business today, it’s essential to align every activity to strategy. Increasingly, areas such as information technology and R&D are moving from being cost centers to driving business strategy. Effective leaders in technical areas require an understanding of the business that extends beyond a single department or function.

Once again, I am glad for my Geek CEO background. I hope that with my programming and database background gained in previous ventures, I will be able to lead Seatability through tough times and stay nimble enough to stay ahead of our competition.

LinkedIn is hewing closely to the Web economy’s new motto on initial public offerings: Easy does it. Founded in 2003, LinkedIn may not sell shares until some time next year. Likewise, social networking site Facebook, worth $15 billion on paper, may not go public until 2010, a company board member says. People close to Facebook previously suggested an IPO could come as soon as 2009.

Mark Zuckerberg – Forbes – Net Worth: $1.5 billion

I’m impressed with how Mark Zuckerberg is dealing with the explosive growth of Facebook.  I can certainly understand how attached he is to his company, but does he really think that Facebook will still be valued at near $15 billion?  As much as I’d want to grow my company and as much as I don’t want to sell out, I don’t think that I’d be able to turn down any amount that can be expressed in terms of billions.  I wish him the best of luck and I hope that he doesn’t end up with another piece of worthless bubbledom.

Despite a slowing U.S. economy, online retail sales will continue to grow at double-digit rates for the next several years, but it will begin to take a turn toward maturity by 2012, according to new research from JupiterResearch.

U.S. online retail sales are expected to reach $148 billion in 2008, up 19 percent from sales in 2007 and comprising about 6.4 percent of total retail sales. That figure will grow to $166 billion in 2009 and $215 billion by 2012, for a compounded annual growth rate of about 11 percent, according to JupiterResearch analyst Patti Freeman Evans.

With so many customers flocking to the web to purchase products, the question is how to translate the experience of a great retail location to bits and bytes. Right now most internet retail sites are servicing the price sensitive, but do a poor job at attracting and selling to people that need advice. Those sales are transacted in the real world, mainly with salespeople that the customer trusts.

For many things, especially electronics, I reached a point long ago where I stopped listening to the CompUSA salesman harassing me because they just spouted out worthless drivel that they heard from someone else. 90% of all my purchases now go through Amazon.com mainly because of their collection of product reviews, which I feel that I can trust because they are unbiased.

That still doesn’t really get me to the point where I feel comfortable purchasing something that I don’t know much about. When I go to a restaurant, I always ask the waitress what the best or most popular items are, because that is my only way to gauge the food. Similarly, when I have limited info, I want to trust someone, but often I just have no idea where to turn.

On the web, I think there is a huge potential for websites targeting niche vertical markets, not just as a catalog of products, but to give advice on the products that are the most relevant, then step back and let the customer decide. There are a number of these companies being built, including www.csnstores.com and www.ivgstores.com amongst many others, but they still don’t go deep enough into the teaching aspect that I think most consumers are interested in.

The site that has done the best job that I have found is www.massage-chair-relief.com. I signed up for their free white paper and they had a series of articles that were automatically sent to me, helping me to feel comfortable that I had a basic understanding of the market and product offerings. I was looking at a big ticket purchase for my mother’s birthday, and not knowing a lot about massage chairs, their content and automated delivery did a fantastic job. All it took for them to do that was a little time creating the content and then setting up the automation, but I don’t doubt that it has dramatically impacted their sales and conversion ratios.

There’s a wealth of sales out there not being closed on the internet because even with all the Web 2.0 buzz, most sites have yet to understand how to gain consumer trust. Any aspiring entrepreneurs out there willing to take on the challenge?

My goal in doing business isn’t just to make money or to build a company of lasting value. I love to learn and grow personally, and I love to see and help others to unlock their potentials. My feelings on the subject are best expressed by Marianne Williamson, though this quote is often inaccurately attributed to Nelson Mandela.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

As for the content of this site, I haven’t really decided specifically what I’ll focus on, though entrepreneurial business ideas and ventures will probably take center stage. I currently own and am the CEO of Seatability (www.seatability.com). We sell the best bungie chairs in the world, the only ones with flat bands instead of uncomfortable round cords. I love doing business because it combines my passion for competition with the requirement for continual self and business improvement.

Other possible blog topics include sports, especially Brigham Young University (BYU) football, current political hot topics, especially as they relate to China, cool new gadgets, and occasionally church topics.

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