The Key to Small Business Contracting Success

“Above all, success in business requires two things: a winning competitive strategy, and superb organizational execution. Distrust is the enemy of both. I submit that while high trust won’t necessarily rescue a poor strategy, low trust will almost always derail a good one.” ~ Stephen M.R. Covey

Abamath Series – This is the 6th in a series of blogposts by Luke Schlangen, Founder of Abamath. (read the 1st , 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th)

 

Some Businesses Will Happily Neglect Your Best Interests

Being a small business often leaves you with less negotiating heft. You aren’t anyone’s biggest client. You don’t have a massive legal team. Sometimes the way you’re treated is just terrible, but you do have some control over how much of that treatment you allow.

6 days after we opened our first location, we received a letter that the mall would be undergoing serious construction within the next year. Not once during contracting did the landlord mention the multi-million dollar construction project that they had been planning for over a year. They had completely misled me, and when I asked for more information, they had no comment. We would be required to move some time, but wouldn’t know when.

Obviously that was awful. Fortunately, my friend’s mother had encouraged me to push for 60 days construction notice instead of 24 hours, and for a way out of the contract. So, given the chance to leave early, we did. We officially left on December 31. We timed things correctly. Every business that stayed was given a letter on January 1 saying they had 60 days to move.

Thanks to my contact, we dodged a much more devastating blow, but needing to relocate after just opening is not good for business. Granted, most of our clients stuck with us, and we moved to a nicer place with lower rent, but we got lucky.

The Work Starts Before the Contract is Drafted

I was lucky to have a legal connection like my friend’s mom, but the point isn’t only that you should read the small print (of course you should). At the end of the day, being forced to move 5 months after opening is pretty miserable, even if the contract gives you some protection. That’s not good enough.

The point is that you should work with people and businesses you can trust. Since that initial misstep, I have been working almost exclusively with business partners who have been referred to me by trustworthy people.

Use Your Network

If you have a friend who does business in your area, ask them who they work with. What software do they use for accounting? Who is their insurance agent? They might run a completely different business, but all businesses have some basic needs. Before you move into a new location, ask other tenants what they think of the management. Life is a lot easier when you can stop worrying about having the rug pulled out from under you. This is where that all-important “network” becomes your most valuable asset. Use it.

Trustworthiness might seem subjective and fluffy, but it can save a lot of very real money.

Luke Schlangen is the founder and president of Abamath: A Better Approach to Math

Traffic Generated with a Facebook Post

I’ve noticed a pattern in the generated traffic when I post a link to facebook.  Here is my learning.

The link post generates a spike.

I’ve seen this time and time again.  Huge spike in traffic that quickly falls off.  It was the same thing when I was running my photo site.

Why?

This is not a targeted audience.  These are my family and my friends from high school, college and day job.  They might click the link because they know me and they are casually curious what I’m up to. (Isn’t that the point of facebook? Here’s a picture of my dog, here’s what I did this weekend, here’s what I work on in my free time.)

Blog Traffic effects of Facebook posts

So why does this matter?  What have I actually learned?

Lessons Learned:

1)  Network.  I was surprised to find the entrepreneurial spirits that already existed in my personal network.

2)  Trust.  People on my facebook know everything I’ve been up to for years.  They don’t have to worry about whether or not my link is what I say it is.

3)  Targeting.  My facebook friends are not an audience that is specifically interested in starting businesses.  I am curious to see if there would be more lasting traffic effects or more engagement (likes/comments) with a similarly sized audience the IS interested in this content.