Category: Entrepreneurship

Train your employees properly

Posted on by Brian Lee

In an attempt to shop local, I placed an order online from an area embroidery store. I called today to ask about my order, and the woman who answered the phone couldn’t help with any of my issues:

  • How to edit my address
  • How long for order fulfillment
  • What my order costs
  • How to look up my order

She didn’t seem to feel bad, making the excuse that she only works on clothing, not items like the bottle openers I ordered. She took my name and number and said the owner would have to call me back.

I’m looking forward telling this owner that she needs to train her employees more thoroughly. The employee’s lack of knowledge is now wasting my time and the owner’s time, and it certainly doesn’t reflect well on the company.

Test your products before launching them!

Posted on by Brian Lee

I’m stunned by the lack of product testing these days. Companies spend a lot of money and time on R&D, but then they don’t spend anything on seeing if their product is actually functional.

An article on MarketWatch discusses Microsoft’s latest iteration of its Surface tablet, after the first version had disappointing sales:

The software giant — an expert in “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” — recently had to go back to the drawing board to finesse one of its most important software products, the latest generation of Windows, Windows 8, which has been a disappointment since its launch last year. In October, it released Windows 8.1, an improved version addressing consumer complaints, such as the loss of the “Start” button. It then moved on to addressing criticisms of the Surface, such as its lack of an Outlook email option and issues with the tablet’s one kickstand slot.

It seems Microsoft should have done focus groups and other research so that the second version of Surface would have actually been its first. That’s what I would recommend to any company with a product to sell.

(And I’m not just bashing Microsoft. Other companies are guilty, too. Remember when holding the Apple iPhone 4 would block the antenna?)

If the NFL were more like other industries

Posted on by Brian Lee

The NFL is really an oddity in a business sense. The primary example of this is that it’s exempt from antitrust laws, otherwise it couldn’t control the amateur draft, salary cap, free agency restrictions and TV rights the way it currently does (by colluding).

After the Green Bay Packers signed QB Scott Tolzien, who was cut by the San Francisco 49ers–the Packers’ first opponent of the season–it got me thinking: what if the NFL were more like other industries?

The Packers signed Tolzien for one reason: to pick his brain about the 49ers’ offense (and defense, to some extent). In the real (business) world, the 49ers would have made Tolzien sign a non-compete and non-disclosure document.

If you think about that, having non-competes in the NFL, or any other sport, would be really weird. There wouldn’t be any more trades, and free agents would be on the market for minimum one year as they wait for their non-competes to expire.

And regarding the non-disclosure, Tolzien is in a tough spot. If he rats out his old team, he extends his career by at least another week (he’s currently still on the practice squad). If he doesn’t talk about the 49ers, he’s out of a job.

That’s why the NFL is an oddity in business.