I wrote this for a magazine once:

Entrepreneurs / business owners come in all shapes and sizes. In fact, the one defining trait about them is they are so indefinable. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs didn’t even go to high school, while others have dropped out of Harvard.

But, in my career as a serial entrepreneur (which is a nice way of saying that I’ve experienced success and spectacular failure both) I’ve found that there are certain characteristics that most entrepreneurs share.

So the next time you’re sitting in your cubical, staring at the fourth quarter spreadsheets while dreading another boring (and utterly pointless) meeting, read this short list and see how you match up with the entrepreneur mindset:

• Entrepreneurs have little fear, and have supreme confidence in their professional ability. They are generally not afraid, for example, of losing their job. They figure “heck, I’ll just get another one.” If that sounds like you, you might be a closet entrepreneur.
  

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• Relating to the above, entrepreneurs HATE micromanagement. The best kind of boss a closet entrepreneur can have is one that says “Just do it, and bring me the results when you’re done.” The worst kind of boss a closet entrepreneur can have is one that says “See me after each step so I can check on your progress.” (*groan*… it hurt just to write that.) Unfortunately, boss #2 far outnumbers boss #1.
  

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• Entrepreneurs have little regard for arbitrary rules. The silly “you need to wear a tie even if you’re not seeing customers” rule comes to mind here. What’s up with that?
  

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• While not workaholics, entrepreneurs never stop thinking about work. This is because doing good work is important to them. If you find yourself coming up with a work idea at the Sunday BBQ, despite the best efforts of your six shrieking nieces and nephews to distract you, you might be a closet entrepreneur.
  

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• Entrepreneurs often feel like they are not paid what they are worth. However, they feel this way because they truly feel their work warrants better compensation. They don’t, for example, think they should make more because “Becky in accounting makes more and does nothing all day.” In fact, they don’t care what Becky makes (she’s an idiot anyway.) Entrepreneurs care about their own compensation deal, and nobody else’s.

All in all, an entrepreneur definitely marches to the beat of a different drummer. And although sometimes I’ll question whether this particular drummer took their medication or not, I can tell you that the rewards of being your own boss are substantial (and even when they aren’t, at least I can take off my tie.)

I noticed something about Facebook… not all of my friend’s posts make my front page - ever. Facebook seems to pick and choose what makes it to my default view by a “most popular news” thingee…

Which begs the question - how do they figure what’s most popular?

Which brings us to a second question - how long before businesses, who are starting to “get” Facebook, start looking to ”FSO” (Facebook Status Optimization… my term ) their way to the top?

Just a quick food for thought. And while we’re on it, WTF happened to Myspace? There’s fodder for another post.

The title for this blog post is pretty self-explanatory. I’m going to talk about a phenomena that’s all too common in business, and one that every businessperson needs to learn. And this goes for all types of businesses, everywhere - this happened to me twenty years ago when I had my little direct mail advertising business out of my apartment in Montgomery NY, and it happened to me yesterday.

It’s the simple fact that service providers and clients are often not always on the same page. Especially when it comes to quoting jobs verbally. It’s not that clients don’t hear what you are saying, it’s just that they interpret it a little different.

For example, if you give a price range verbally, the lower number will ALWAYS be the price.  If you give a timeframe, the fastest timeframe will ALWAYS be the one remembered.

And you have to be ready for this, because if you aren’t, it can get you into trouble. This is why we have written proposals - I do not get into quoting jobs verbally except in a very basic form. That’s because of the “what I say and what they hear” thing.

Perhaps an example would be easier to digest:

What I say to a client

Ok Mr. Client, here’s the project proposal - it will cost between $1,700 and $2,500. This will be for 8-12 pages of copy. I will start it the week of July 5th - now, that’s a holiday week, so it’ll likely start later in the week. But I will start it that week. The finished project will take  approximately 1-2 weeks from the time I start. Even though it’s usually not needed, I will include 1 edit to get to a final version.

What the client hears:

The project will cost $1,700 firm, and not a penny more. That will be for a minimum of 12 pages of copy. It will be started Monday morning, July 5th, at 7am sharp, and you will continue working on it until it is finished. A July 5th e-mail at 10am asking how things are going will be promptly responded to with great enthusiasm. The project will be completely finished by week’s end. Furthermore, I understand that you will do as many edits as I see fit, even if it means a change in project direction. 

Please keep in mind - the above is normal (I’m not complaining or blaming the client). In fact, when *I* am a client, I tend to do the same thing (I do try to catch myself… I’m just saying it’s normal to assume the most favorable terms for yourself.)

Dan Lesson: Verbal works fine for extreme basics. And even then, make sure you are ready for the above to happen - make your low number in the verbal the number you can really live with. But for official jobs, always do written proposals.

Years ago, I used to work in computer tech support. It was 1996/1997, and computers (and the internet) were still somewhat of a novelty. At least for most people.

And I admit, the nerd in me took pleasure in the caller’s incompetence. I mean, really, how could you NOT know how to copy/paste? How could you not know how to create a shortcut. Etc. Etc. I even really got some of those calls that sound like an urban legend:

Caller: My computer boots to funny writing.

Me: What version of Windows do you have?

Caller: Oh, there’s no windows here - I’m in the basement.

Or how about this gem…

Caller: My screen says “press any key”, but there’s no “ANY” key on the keyboard… (yea, it really happened.)

Anyway, I look back now and can (almost) forgive some of the ignorance - like I said, all of this was new to many people.

But here in 2010, I am still somewhat shocked by some of the utter ineptitude I come across. Much of it has to do with e-mail. Now, these aren’t just regular homeowners (like the people I dealt with 14 years ago were) - I deal with businesspeople now. And frankly, I am a little surprised about a few things. So allow me to help - here are some things you just have to know about if you want to converse via e-mail.

• Learn about your spam folder, and learn how to set the settings so you can accept attachments. I cannot count the number of times I got a curt “you never sent the file”  when I did indeed send it. I always say “check your spam folder”, to which I get maybe twenty seconds of silence, then a quiet ”oh…”
  
  
• Learn how to quote properly. I do not need to read the entire last week’s worth of conversation in our exchanges.
  
  
• On that note, please lose the four-line signature about how this message was intended for so and so and there’s an army of lawyers standing by if anyone tries anything funny… Nothing says “spineless corporate weenie” quite like 4 lines of legal disclaimer at the end of every_single_e-mail you send.
  
  
• If I have to register to reach you (as in those annoying spam protectors), well, I don’t. You’ll simply never hear from me. Stop hiding and take your Viagra e-mail like the rest of us.
  
  
• Address book - learn it, and use it. It’s really not that hard. Trust me, sending me an e-mail as a “re” to a  mail I sent you last year tells me you don’t know how to use an address book.
  
  
• Please stop sending 10mb attachments unless 10mb is truly needed. It slows everything up. Learn how to compress a picture if you must. Or ask a ten year old to do it for you.

Ok, I know I’m a little snide here - sorry, that’s my inner tech support dude (he needs to get out every now and again). But in all seriousness, it’s every businessperson’s responsibility to learn how to use e-mail efficiently and correctly, for both you and the receiver.