201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business E-Book

Jane Applegate

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Bloomberg
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 501

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Completely revised and updated edition of this very popular and successful small business book The first edition of 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business was hailed by management guru and author Tom Peters as "Brilliantly researched. Brilliantly written. A gem of priceless value on almost every page. Read. Inhale. Absorb. Great Stuff!" In this completely updated third edition of 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business, renowned small-business expert and consultant Jane Applegate shares new, powerful, creative, simple, and proven approaches for building a better small business. * Details how business owners can use online marketing and social networking more effectively * Offers timely strategies for thriving in challenging economic times * Includes scores of real-life success stories and all-new interviews with small-business owners, experts, and VIP's including Guy Kawasaki, Kay Koplovitz, and Michael Bloomberg It may be small, but your business is a big deal to you, your customers, and employees. 201 Great Ideas provides lively, practical strategies to help you manage, grow, and promote your business.

Leseprobe

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 : Management Strategies

1. Always Deal with Decision Makers

2. Never Work with Anyone Who Gives You a Headache or a Stomachache

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Reinvent Your Business

4. Add Spirituality to Your Business Life

5. Ask for a Quick “Yes” or “No”

6. Say Goodbye to Corporate Life

7. Create an Informal Advisory Board

8. Move Your Business into an Incubator

9. Organize a Company Retreat

10. Create a Greener and Safer Workplace

11. Think Ergonomically

12. Make Meetings More Productive

13. Meet Clients in Elegant Public Places

14. Work the Phones or Walk the Floor

15. Join or Create a Peer Support Group

16. Know When to Reach Out for Help

17. Hire a Great Lawyer

18. Seek Help from a Restaurant Consultant

19. Thank Everyone You Work With

20. Move Your Business into a Main Street Revitalization Zone

21. Ask Your Staff to Evaluate You

22. Cross-Train Your Employees

23. Create a Disaster Recovery Plan

Chapter 2 : Money Matters

24. Become a Profit Enhancement Officer

25. Write a Killer Business Plan

26. More Insider Tips to Woo Investors

27. Find Yourself an Angel

28. Hire a Virtual Chief Financial Officer

29. Choose the Right Bank

30. Create a Sensitivity Analysis

31. Find a Good Accountant

32. Work with an Enrolled Agent to Do Your Taxes

33. Find a Strategic Partner to Invest in Your Company

34. Even Out Your Cash Flow

35. Consider Buying a Franchise

36. Franchise Your Business Concept

37. Barter for Goods and Services

38. Seek Vendor Financing

39. EB-5 Visas for Foreign Investors

40. Invest in Yourself by Tapping Your 401(k)

41. Apply for a Government-Backed Bank Loan

42. Invoice Bimonthly and Add an Overhead Charge

43. Ask for a Deposit

44. Lock Your Supply Cabinet

45. Set Up a Retirement Plan

46. Establish an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

47. Find a Good Independent Insurance Broker

48. Buy Disability Insurance

49. Hire a Debt Arbitrator

50. Collect the Money People Owe You

51. Accept Credit Cards

52. Work Part Time to Support Your Business

53. Expand Your Vendor Network

54. Check Out Economic Development Incentives

55. Produce an Independent Film

56. Buy Prepaid Legal Insurance or Make a Deal with a Law Firm

57. Find the Right Office Space

58. Hire a Savvy Real Estate Broker

59. Share Space with a Compatible Business

60. Buy Used Office Furnishings

61. Sell Your Business at the Right Time and Price

62. Sell Your Company to an Industry Giant

Chapter 3 : Technology and Telecommunications

63. Twitter for Business: Tips from Guy Kawasaki

64. Facebook Tips for Business Owners

65. Use Skype for Business

66. Set Up a Teleconference

67. Make the Most of Voice Mail

68. Don’t Let E-Mail Rule or Ruin Your Life

69. Take This Technology Checkup

70. Smart Technology and Telecommunication Toys to Buy for Your Business

71. Post Videos and Photos on Your Web Site

72. Consider a Cloud-Based Telephone Service

73. Create a Dynamic Web Site

74. The Truth about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

75. Hire a Great Web Designer

76. Run Your Business in the Cloud

77. Use Online Mailing Solutions

78. Train Employees Online

79. Sell Products Online

80. Visit My Favorite Web Sites

Chapter 4 : Develop and Launch New Products and Services

81. Create a Fad

82. Import Something New and Different

83. Turn Your Hobby into a Successful Business

84. Become an Exclusive Importer

85. Launch a Green Product

86. Build a Working Model of Your Product

87. Make a Model with 3-D Software

88. Serve the High and Low Ends of the Market

89. Partner with a Big Company for Distribution

90. Take Advantage of an Online Technology Exchange

91. Have Your Product Mandated for Use by the Government

92. Create a Business Based on a Personal Challenge

93. Sell Your Wares in a Farmer’s Market

94. Set Up a Cart in a Shopping Mall

Chapter 5 : Marketing Strategies

95. Strike a Deal with a Giant

96. Look Bigger Online

97. Take Advantage of Co-op Advertising

98. Market to Callers on Hold

99. Consider Multilevel Marketing: Send Out Cards

100. Cross-Promote Your Products or Services

101. Sell through a Dealer Network

102. Create a Cool Business Card

103. Create a Dynamic Database

104. Package Your Products for Success

105. Give to Charity

106. Use Coupons to Attract Customers

107. Use Food as a Selling Tool

108. Set Up a Strong Referral Network

109. Give It Away

110. Design a Great Sign for Your Business

111. Produce an Infomercial

112. Put a Pig in Your Window

113. Put Your Company Name on Everything

114. Free Up Your Sales Team to Sell

115. Hire a Celebrity Spokesperson

116. Publish a Newsletter or Blog

117. Market Your Consulting Services

118. Host an Open House

119. Use Great Public Relations to Promote Your Business

120. Coproduce a Seminar

121. Ask for Two Business Cards

122. Treat Your Best Clients Well

123. Invite Associates to a Trade Show

124. Know Your Competition

125. Tap the Growing Hispanic Market

126. Make Your 800 Number Ring

127. Attend Charity Events to Make Contacts

128. Publicize Your Specialty Food Business

129. Market to Uncle Sam and Other Agencies

130. Get Certified as a Woman- or Minority-Owned Business

131. Don’t Forsake the Yellow Pages

132. Send Pizza to Potential Clients

133. Think BIG—Why Not?

Chapter 6 : People

134. Cast a Wide Net to Attract Good Employees

135. Write Clear Job Descriptions

136. Know What Not to Ask Job Applicants

137. Recruit Great Employees

138. Look Far and Wide for the Best Person

139. Work with People You Like

140. Hire Talented Seniors

141. Hire Teenagers

142. Use the BATH System for Hiring

143. Perform a Personnel Checkup

144. Hire a Welfare Recipient

145. Hire Ex-Cons

146. Telecommuting as an Option

147. Tailor Benefits to Employees’ Needs

148. Offer Classes in English as a Second Language

149. Find Out How Disney Does It

150. Ask Your Best Clients to Meet Key Job Candidates

151. Hire an Experienced Labor Attorney

152. Hire an Interim Executive

153. Train Your Employees

154. Offer Employees the Right Incentives

155. How to Deal with Domestic Violence

156. Be Serious about Your Sexual Harassment Policy

157. Rely on Temps and Freelancers

158. Work with a Virtual Talent Agency

159. Send Gifts to an Employee’s Spouse

Chapter 7 : Time and Personal Management Ideas

160. Get Organized—Right Now

161. Appoint a Personal Information Officer

162. Plan “In” Days and “Out” Days

163. Beat Your Deadlines

164. Spend an Hour a Day Thinking

165. Five Quick Time Management Tips

166. Work Hard and Play Harder

167. Tell the Truth

168. Overcome a Fear of Public Speaking—Join Toastmasters

169. Find a Mentor and Be a Mentor

170. Do Something to Reduce Stress

171. Put on a Happy Face

Chapter 8 : Customer Service

172. Customer Service the Zappos Way

173. Quick Customer Service Quiz

174. Hire a Mystery Shopper

175. Listen to the Telephone Doctor

176. Don’t Make Your Customers Angry

177. Make House Calls or Have a Trunk Sale

178. Make Apparel to Order

179. Demand Great Service from Vendors

180. Get to Know Your Customers Personally

181. Wrap It Up

182. Customer Service at Its Best

Chapter 9 : Going Global

183. Return to Your Homeland to Export Products

184. Move Your Manufacturing to Mexico

185. Forge an International Alliance

186. Do Business in India

187. Explore Opportunities in Russia

188. Do Business in China

189. Meet U.S. Safety Rules for Products Made Abroad

190. Learn about a Culture before Going Abroad

191. Translate Your Marketing Materials

192. Abide by the Etiquette of International Trade

Chapter 10 : Great Ideas and Insights from VIPs

193. Herb Kelleher—Be a Maverick

194. Lynn Tilton—Be a Modern Industrialist

195. Mike Bloomberg—Keep It Simple

196. Tom Peters—Forget Credentials

197. Kay Koplovitz—Leverage a New Technology

198. Wally Amos—Reinvent Yourself

199. Lillian Vernon—Advice from the Mail-Order Queen

200. Charles Shackleton—Follow Your Passion

201. Set Your Ego Aside and Ask for Help

Conclusion

Resources

About the Author

Index

Additional Praise for 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business

“Owning 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business is like having a team of consultants sitting in your office. This book not only educates and inspires, but the ideas will help you save time and money as well.”

—Rieva Lesonsky, CEO, GrowBiz Media/SmallBizDaily.com, Former Editorial Director Entrepreneur magazine

Since 1996, Bloomberg Press has published books for financial professionals, as well as books of general interest in investing, economics, current affairs, and policy affecting investors and business people. Titles are written by well-known practitioners, BLOOMBERG NEWS® reporters and columnists, and other leading authorities and journalists. Bloomberg Press books have been translated into more than 20 languages.

For a list of available titles, please visit our web site at www.wiley.com/go/bloombergpress.

Copyright © 2011 by Jane Applegate. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Applegate, Jane.

201 great ideas for your small business / Jane Applegate. — 3rd ed.

p. cm. — (Bloomberg series)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-470-91966-8 (pbk.); 978-1-118-06769-7 (ebk); 978-1-118-086770-3 (ebk); 978-1-118-06771—0 (ebk)

1. Small business—Management. I. Title. II. Title: Two hundred one great ideas for your small business. III. Title: Two hundred and one great ideas for your small business.

HD62.7.A64 2011

658.02’2—dc22

2010053517

I DEDICATE THIS THIRD EDITION OF 201 GREAT IDEAS to Joe, my dearest husband, whose love and wit keep me smiling, and to our wonderful kids, Jeanne and Evan Applegate, who light up our lives.

Introduction

In the absence of discontent, there is no creativity.

—Deepak Chopra

Why Is It a Good Time to Update 201?

Eight years ago, when I last revised 201 Great Ideas, many business owners were still bruised from the crazy “dot-com” era. Remember when billions of dollars were wasted on silly or copy-cat online business concepts? Luckily, we’ve figured out how to use the Internet to make connections and money.

I collected most of the new, great ideas for this third edition during a national speaking tour cosponsored by Bloomberg TV and local cable companies. The events, hosted by chambers of commerce, provided a wonderful opportunity for me to meet one-on-one with hundreds of business owners.

In 2008 and 2009, everyone I met was feeling pummeled by the Great Recession. Even if you had great credit, it was nearly impossible to borrow money. Millions of people were out of work and millions of homes were in foreclosure or “underwater.” But, as the 2010 holiday season kicked off, the mood was definitely brighter in the small business community. We started spending money again and feeling more optimistic about the future.

Americans, especially small business owners, are extraordinarily resilient. We have the stamina, moxie, and plenty of great ideas to survive the worst of times. Despite massive national debt, two distant wars, and a trade deficit, America is still the best country to be a small business owner.

We have the biggest and strongest economy on the planet. Cash is flowing. Technology, equipment, and real estate are cheap. Amazing talent abounds. If you lost your business during the downturn, it’s time to get back in the game.

This book is guaranteed to revive your entrepreneurial spirit. If this is your first venture, I promise 201 Great Ideas will help you avoid the biggest potholes on the highway to success.

If you read an earlier edition of this book, you’ll notice plenty of new ideas. Although my contract called for revising about 60 ideas, so much has changed in recent years, I updated every idea and included scores of new ones. This new edition of 201 Great Ideas features great ideas from novice and veteran business owners. There are no theories. Every idea has been tested in a real business.

You’ll meet the amazing business owners I met while traveling coast to coast, ranging from Skagway, Alaska, to Portland, Maine. In Victoria, British Columbia, I visited Smoking Lily, a boutique claiming to be the smallest small business in North America. It occupies 44 square feet of space in a cool, downtown shopping district. T-shirts and scarves hang on the wall. The young woman who rang up my purchases was perched on a platform about four feet off the ground in a corner of the closet-sized store. Crazy!

You’ll meet Kesang Tashi, a wonderful Tibetan entrepreneur who has devoted his life to reviving the art and craft of rug making back in his homeland. He employs scores of craftspeople in Tibet, who now make a living by selling their handmade rugs, scarves, jewelry, and religious banners.

I met entrepreneurs who work part-time jobs to fund their dreams and people who share retail space to save money and serve similar customers.

Every year, no matter how rocky the economy is, about 500,000 Americans start a new business. We are fortunate to live in a country where you can wake up in the morning and be in business by the end of the day.

Sitting in a café with an Internet connection, you can buy a web site domain, order equipment, and open a bank account. Then, you can promote what you do or sell via LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Need help? Hire some virtual talent via Elance.com.

This book and new 201greatideas.com site is a distribution channel for great ideas. I try to practice what I preach. Unlike many financial journalists, I am a small business owner. I’ve founded three companies. I started The Applegate Group Inc. when I quit my job at the Los Angeles Times in 1991. Three years later, I started a financial services consulting firm, eventually turning that venture over to my partner.

In 2000, with marketing support from CNN.com, we launched SBTV.com (Small Business TV), the first online video site devoted exclusively to small business news and features. We attracted blue chip sponsors including Merrill Lynch, IBM, and ING, and produced hundreds of broadcast-quality videos. After predictions of widespread broadband service failed to materialize, we sold the company trademark and assets—in 2003.

My company continues to evolve, reflecting my work as a writer, consultant, speaker, and producer. On the consulting side, I work with a handful of blue-chip corporations, helping them provide better products and services to small business owners. On the multimedia side, we produce original Web content for American Express’s OPEN Forum.com, Cox Communications, and Montecito Bank. I also write and produce independent films, promotional videos, and videos for 201greatideas.com.

In addition to the scores of real business owners you’ll meet in the following pages, you’ll enjoy insights and advice provided by well-known entrepreneurs including Michael Bloomberg, New York City’s mayor and founder of Bloomberg LP; USA Networks founder Kay Koplovitz; and management expert and author, Tom Peters.

You’ll meet Lynn Tilton, a modern industrialist who is busy acquiring and reviving American manufacturing companies, and Nina McLemore, a dynamic fashion designer with a line of fabulous, classy clothes for professional women. If you attend any of my speaking events, you’ll probably see me wearing her designs.

My search for great ideas doesn’t stop here: if you have a great idea, please submit it via our web site: www.201greatideas.com. We’ll be posting the best ideas and awarding prizes to the winners.

I look forward to hearing from you and wish you success on your journey.

Jane Applegate

Sharon, Vermont

March, 2011

[email protected]

Chapter 1

Management Strategies

Small business owners have to be like those plate spinners in the circus ring. You’ve probably seen those jugglers: they toss plates atop spindly poles. As soon as one plate starts spinning, the next plate wobbles, ready to crash. Plate spinners rush from pole to pole, trying to keep all the plates aloft.

Juggling skills are essential for running a small business.

Balancing life and work is nearly impossible, especially with all our electronic tethers. Smartphones are cool, but they make it easy to work nonstop.

This chapter on management strategies features great ideas about how to manage through chaos. I’ll explain why creating an informal advisory board is a great idea and how a company retreat can boost morale and productivity.

You’ll learn how to hire great advisers, including attorneys, accountants, and consultants. We’ll explore how to keep employees healthy and happy by creating a safer, “greener” workplace. You may be inspired to move your business into a business incubator and cross-train your employees.

All these great ideas were suggested by business owners, so read on.

Always Deal with Decision Makers

An entrepreneur’s goal is to operate at the highest level possible. You’ll increase the odds of making a deal if you pitch the decision maker, whether that person is another business owner or a corporate executive. Your mission is to get to the person who writes the checks and move on to the next opportunity if the answer is “no.”

Even when The Applegate Group Inc., my multimedia communications and consulting company, was based in the dining room of our suburban Los Angeles home, I resolved to always deal directly with the top person. My strategy raised eyebrows, but as a financial writer, I was interviewing and profiling decision makers every day. Companies claim to empower employees and work collaboratively, but the truth is, someone has to say “yes” or “no.”

It took courage to quit my prestigious job at the Los Angeles Times to write a weekly small business column, write books, and consult with big companies selling products and services to small business owners.

I was very lucky. My first client was American Express. The corporate card group wanted to sponsor a weekly small business report on National Public Radio. I was upset when NPR turned us down, because they already had a corporate sponsor for small business coverage, but we took the idea to CBS Radio. My syndicated Succeeding in Small Business report aired for about four years and launched my speaking and consulting career.

We’ve flourished through the years by pitching marketing concepts, television programs, business events, and independent films to the people who can “green light” a project. You might be thinking, “Well, it’s easy because you are Jane Applegate and people know who you are.” Not so. No matter who you are, it’s worth aiming high. You have nothing to lose by sending a short and focused handwritten note (not e-mail) to the founder, president, or chairman of a company you want to do business with. Worst case, your note will be read by an assistant and may forward it to the appropriate person down the chain of command.

I know everything is moving online, but letters cut through the clutter. I once sent a story pitch via Priority Mail to the executive producer at 60 Minutes. Two days later, his assistant called me. She said my letter was the only piece of mail on his desk. He read it and asked a producer to call me right away. (They passed on the story, but I know it was considered, which impressed my client.)

And don’t be shy about using all your contacts—even personal ones. For example, I was chatting with a neighbor who is executive vice president of a big bank. I mentioned that I was looking for companies to give this book away to small business customers. He passed along my pitch to his business banking team. No matter what happens, I know my proposal got to the right person, with a note from a top executive.

Remember, you have only a few seconds to make your pitch to a busy person. Focus on how your service, idea, or product can help their company beat the competition. If you don’t get a response to your letter, call the company’s main number early in the morning or after 5 pm. Ask the receptionist to connect you to the person’s direct line. Powerful executives usually work longer hours than their subordinates and assistants. I’ve reached many top executives working at their desks during the lunch hour, too.

I should warn you that this “easier at the top” strategy has pitfalls. Even if the top person signs off on your project, middle managers may feel threatened. They will most likely sabotage your project. I’ve encountered this resistance to my projects many times, but most of the time, things work out if you keep the lines of communication open.

The “not invented here” issue can kill a good idea. I share this not to discourage you, but to emphasize how critical it is to have open and constant support from the decision maker who hired you. Keep in touch with that person and make sure they know how things are going.

Be creative and persistent. Find someone who knows your prospect and ask them to introduce you. Remember, people do business with people they know and like.

Never Work with Anyone Who Gives You a Headache or a Stomachache

This is my motto. Life is too short to work with people who make you miserable. You can’t possibly do your best work when the people you have to deal with make you sick.

I know. I’ve tried. As a freelance writer and producer, I have worked on amazing projects for terrible people, including a greedy, obnoxious celebrity and the campus loony at an elite graduate school. The production company story involved a really famous person who misappropriated production funds raised by a nonprofit organization and is too upsetting to share. (I’ll include it in my memoir.)

But lessons can be learned from my most traumatic work experience. In 2008, the Great Recession prompted me to accept what seemed like a dream job at a prestigious business school. I was hired to write white papers and articles, produce audio and video clips for a web site, and coproduce a lecture series on the future of television. Best of all, I was asked to write, produce, and direct a documentary based on interviews with top industry executives visiting the school.

My four-day schedule allowed me to still speak at Bloomberg TV–sponsored small business events a few times each month.

Unfortunately, six months into the job, I was suffering from blinding tension headaches and my stomach was in a twist. Every morning, as I walked past the security bars on the windows in the stairwell, I felt like I was heading to my prison cell. The chemistry between my boss and me was terrible. I knew I was toast when he called me into his office for a performance review.

He shut the door, sat down, and began listing my infractions: I walked too quickly down the hall, creating a “wake” that disturbed his secretary; at a staff meeting, my jacket accidentally brushed against her and I did not apologize. Worst of all—the day before our biggest public lecture (which drew a standing-room-only crowd of 250)—I left campus during my lunch hour to get my hair cut instead of helping her prepare the name tags.

I remember watching his mouth move but not hearing any sound. It was surreal. Not a word about my writing, public relations, or production skills. No mention of the interviews being conducted in the new studio funded by the dean’s office. No mention of teaching students production techniques or producing a broadcast-quality film on a cable-access budget.

Of course, things went downhill after that. He desperately wanted me to quit, but I was not willing to give up this job without a fight. Naïve about academic politics, I met with the human resources director, the assistant dean, and an employee assistance counselor. The counselor told me my boss was well known for being “difficult and quirky,” and my days were numbered. He also told me I was toast because my boss was a “rainmaker,” who brought big money into the school. I begged the dean for a transfer to another department—any department where I was not being tortured and disrespected every day. I was desperate to keep the job, having given up all my freelance work.

Magical thinking took hold. Maybe if I worked harder things would improve? Every morning, I was the first one in the office. I risked my life driving to campus in a blizzard. A few weeks later, he called me into his office, reluctantly turning down the volume on the yodeling music he loved. (Yes, yodels streaming live via the Internet from Switzerland.)

This time I was reprimanded for asking a colleague whether she was going to meet an agreed-upon deadline for completing a brochure that had been languishing in the art department for two years.

“Jane, here’s the problem,” he said quietly. “You focus too much on performance and production. But my priorities are process and protocol.”

Huh?

Slowly, he took away all my projects. I sat in an empty office for a few weeks waiting for the head of the department to return from a trip. It took sending a detailed letter to the dean detailing my former boss’s unprofessional conduct and violations of the academic code of ethics to finally qualify for unemployment benefits.

After that demoralizing experience, I swore I would never work with anyone who made me sick. No amount of money is worth the pain. Success will evade you if you work in a toxic atmosphere. If you have made bad hires and you dread going to work, you need to take action now.

Work with people who admire you, work hard, and make you laugh when times are tough.

Don’t Be Afraid to Reinvent Your Business

In the late 1990s, anyone wanting Sandra Nunnerley’s elegant, custom-designed furniture had to have deep pockets as well as good taste. Long accustomed to serving the upscale market, with a single chair tagged at $10,000, Nunnerley said she was pushed into the retail market by copycats. “I started to notice that copies of my custom designs were appearing in retail outlets,” said Nunnerley.

Fueled by the middle-class housing boom, Nunnerley teamed up with furniture giant Lane Upholstery to design a line of elegant sofas, beds, chairs, and tables.

Her furniture and interior designs, the subject of an upcoming book and featured in Architectural Digest, appealed to Lane Upholstery president Arthur Thompson.

“Sandra is a designer of remarkable talents, one who has consistently responded to a discerning international clientele,” Thompson remarked when the line was launched. “Her simple, sophisticated designs fill a void in the marketplace for furniture that meets the demands of modern living without sacrificing elegance, style, and tradition.”

Although her line for Lane was lucrative, Nunnerley said in 2005, her research showed that the U.S. housing boom was about to become a housing bust. “I did very well with Lane, but I could see the market changing, and by the end of 2005, I said this cannot last . . . this thing is a bubble.”

“I saw the train coming and knew we had to rethink the company,” said Nunnerley. “We were really making a profit on our high-end residential work, so I decided not to continue with designing products.”

Colleagues who kept serving the mass market furniture, including Michael Smith, the Obama’s interior designer, “got into a lot of trouble.”

Since moving back to serve the highest end of the market, Nunnerley said the company has “never been so busy.” The Manhattan-based firm has grown from 6 to 10 employees.

“At the level I work now, it’s only for the very rich,” she said. “That’s the reality of it. We’ve become a boutique high-end residential firm, doing everything from interior architecture to design.”

Her clients own multiple homes, boats, and airplanes. To keep them happy, she often commissions other designers to create one-of-a-kind pieces.

“We survived and have never been busier,” she said. “Unfortunately, the architects are walking the streets. We advertised for an architect and received 700 resumes.”

Nunnerley urges other business owners to “move with the times.” She said, “You have to constantly rebrand, especially in this global market. It’s a whole new world.”

Looking back, she knows she did the right thing by moving away from manufacturing. “If I continued, I would have been out of business.”

While Nunnerley saved her business by returning to the highest end of the market, long-time restaurant owners, the Ghios, continue to update the menu and operations at Anthony’s Seafood Grotto in San Diego. The restaurant won the local best seafood restaurant award 14 years in a row.

Years ago, when they dropped the zabaglione cake from the menu, Rick Ghio told me he feared his dear, departed grandmother, Catherine, would send a lightning bolt down from heaven in protest. “We did it because we were throwing away more cake than we were selling,” recalled Ghio, referring to the traditional sponge cake served with a rum custard sauce.

Dessert sales perked up when Anthony’s started serving tiramisu and fresh fruit tarts. After 50 years in business, Anthony’s dropped rosé from the wine list, switching to white Zinfandel. The Ghios continue to make changes every year. But why would a business founded in 1946 make changes?

“We were losing our market share,” he said. “Our reputation was still strong, but people were not dining at Anthony’s as frequently as they did in the past.”

Families still booked tables for major celebrations and holidays, but the younger families and couples did not consider Anthony’s a hip place to eat.

“Competition is fierce, relentless, and unforgiving,” said Rick’s brother, Craig, now responsible for business development. “Diners have more choices than ever, and tradition is no longer enough to keep them coming back.”

The Ghios admit that making changes to an iconic eatery is a “scary process,” especially since “there’s a huge risk in saying goodbye to some of the things we had been doing, but we have been truly blessed by the response.”

Add Spirituality to Your Business Life

Peter Oppermann studied mechanical engineering in Germany, but was always drawn to the arts, design, and Eastern philosophy. He moved to New York to marry a yoga teacher and started teaching yoga, but when the marriage ended, he followed his passion to create simple, elegant designs.

Today, he owns Shoji Living, a company that designs and manufactures Japanese-style sliding doors out of sustainable materials.

Oppermann said he’s been inspired by The Diamond Cutter, a book written by Michael Roach, a Buddhist monk turned millionaire businessman. In fact, Oppermann teaches classes in “Karmic management,” based on the book’s principles, to ex-convicts learning new skills at the Osborne Association’s Green Career Center in the South Bronx. (For more on hiring ex-cons, see Great Idea #145.)

Integrating his spiritual and work life is a top priority for Oppermann. In 2010, he took it a step further by joining a group of spiritually minded entrepreneurs who meet monthly. Together, they explore ways to integrate spiritual practice into their business and personal lives. The group calls itself Spirit Bus and is comprised of a former hedge fund manager, a former advertising executive, and two marketing consultants.

“Being an entrepreneur can be a little lonely,” said Oppermann. “So, we get together once a month to exchange ideas, inspire, and support each other.”

Taking a more spiritual approach to business is appealing to many business owners. Rabbi David Baron, founder of Temple Shalom for the Arts in West Los Angeles, said he started writing sermons about how the Bible relates to business issues as a way to connect with more members of his congregation. He said most business owners want their companies to reflect values they cherish.

But it’s tough for busy business owners to incorporate key values into their day-to-day management decisions. Yet a truly successful business relies on the behavior and ethics of its owner and employees.

For instance, if you cheat your customers, you shouldn’t be surprised if your employees do, too. If you tell white lies about why you were late or missed an appointment, your employees will think it is okay if they do the same. “The more I got into [these topics], the more it resonated with businesspeople,” Baron told me. In one of his books, he asks readers to consider why God chose Moses for such an important leadership role when he was hardly management material.

“Imagine hiring a manager whose profile reads: reluctant to lead, stutters, distant, prone to long mountain-top vigils, temperamental to the point of smashing corporate mission statements, strikes out instead of speaking, settles disputes through swift violent means, and never reaches his ultimate objective.”

Pretty funny.

If you are interested in exploring how business and spirituality align, check out Michael Roach’s book, The Diamond Cutter, published by Doubleday Religion. Roach recently sold his diamond business to Warren Buffett for $200 million. A book about religion and business may inspire you to reconnect with your spiritual side, even if you haven’t been to a church or synagogue in years.

Ask for a Quick “Yes” or “No”

Through the years, I’ve learned that a quick “no” is as important as a “yes” when it comes to dealing with clients and customers. While we all love to bring in new business, too much time is wasted in discussion and fruitless negotiation when people are reluctant to just say “no.”

If someone isn’t interested in buying what you have to offer, it’s painful but better to know the truth and move on. The challenge is this: Most people don’t like to say no, so they waffle, stall, and mumble. They don’t return your phone calls, texts, or e-mails. This creates stress and frustration and wastes your time.

One strategy I’ve found to be extremely effective for getting a timely answer is to set a deadline for response. You may think this takes a lot of nerve, but it works in most situations. We set response deadlines on proposals submitted to the biggest Fortune 500 companies.

Setting a deadline is a grown-up way to do business. We ask our corporate clients, who usually need a lot of time to make a decision, to just tell us where they are in the process. Keeping us in the decision loop creates a respectful and honest relationship.

Of course, if someone asks for more time because they can’t schedule a meeting or have to complete a new project, we wait for an answer. The goal is to manage the decision-making process in a professional, nonconfrontational manner.

Be polite and clear. Tell them you truly want to work with them or close the sale, but you believe a “no” is as important as a “yes.” Try it.

Say Goodbye to Corporate Life

People leave their corporate jobs to start small businesses for all sorts of reasons, financial and emotional.

Liz Clarke was working for IBM as an organizational consultant when her son, Dana, died in 1994. To rebuild her life after his traumatic death, she moved to South Strafford Village, a tiny town in south central Vermont. Clarke purchased a couple of extra acres adjacent to her home, cleared the brush, and planted raspberries, blueberries, and currants.

Then, with scientific precision, she taught herself how to make jam, jellies, and coulis (a super-refined jelly). In the fall of 2010, she began selling U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) fancy-grade products under the Morrill Mountain Fruit Farm brand.

Clarke told me that digging in the dirt, driving a tractor, and picking berries cleared her mind. Slowly, she felt happier and brighter.

Across the country, Adam Dawson leveraged his experience as an investigative reporter into a successful small business. Dawson spent 12 years as an aggressive investigative reporter for the Daily News and the Orange County Register. His beat was white-collar crime, and he was relentlessly competitive. (I know because we battled it out covering federal court stories every day when I was a reporter for the Los Angeles Times.)

By the time Dawson was in his 40s, the newspaper industry was faltering and he was ready for a change.

“I could buy a toy like a sports car, have an affair, or reinvent my job,” said Dawson. “I couldn’t afford to buy a toy and my wife wouldn’t let me have an affair, so I thought about what else I could do with the skills I had.”

The attorneys and cops he worked with every day encouraged him to become a private investigator. Intrigued, Dawson looked into what it would take to obtain a license. He learned he needed 6,000 hours of investigative experience to qualify. Luckily, the director of the state licensing agency granted him credit for his many years of investigative reporting.

In 1989, Dawson passed a state exam and has since parlayed his reporting skills into a lucrative PI business based out of his Santa Monica, California, home.

He avoids marital cases (“too emotional”) and hires other investigators to handle surveillance. Mostly, he focuses on what he did as a reporter: unraveling complex frauds and following the money trail. Still passionate about helping to put the bad guys in jail, he’s making six figures a year and having fun.

Dairl Johnson was at the peak of his career and managing a product line with $1.5 billion in sales at IBM, when he “suddenly realized I was taking just as big a risk staying in my corporate job as I would if I left.”

In the early 1990s, IBM was cutting staff. “The whole idea of the company being there forever was no longer true,” said Johnson. “It rocks your whole perspective, and you suddenly say, ‘there’s no such thing as job security. I would rather trust my own skills and abilities.’”

He wasn’t sure what his next step would be, but first he had to deal with a serious problem. Stressed out from too many hours at the computer, Johnson had developed a painful “executive slouch.” Years before, he had injured his back when he bailed out of a Navy fighter jet and was hit by the ejection seat.

One day, his doctor suggested he visit a Relax the Back store in Austin. Johnson forked out $5,000 for a recliner chair, lumbar supports, and other back savers. Amazingly, his back pain eased.

Sensing a business opportunity, he checked out the franchise, cashed in his pension fund (see Great Idea #40), and maxed out his credit cards to purchase a Relax the Back franchise in Santa Monica for $184,000. “That business did $1 million in revenue in its first 10 months,” recalls Johnson. “I knew there was really something going on here.”

With southern California sales soaring, he started thinking bigger. “I said to myself, ‘you know, I want to take this nationwide, and the only way I can do this is to purchase the entire company.’”

Turning to institutional investors, he raised $6 million to buy the operating company. The company now owns about 100 stores across the United States.

Back care is a growing field, since most sufferers are 60-year-old Baby Boomers with high-stress jobs and money to spend on relief. Relax the Back stores sell scores of products ranging from inexpensive massage oils to high-end mattresses and reclining chairs.

Looking back at his life as an executive, Johnson said he has no regrets about leaving the corporate life. “The most important thing is to be prepared for the risk,” he advises. “It’s a real free-fall, and sometimes you can’t find the rip cord.”

He said that once you make a decision to go into business, “you can’t put one foot on the boat and keep the other one on land. Failure is not an acceptable alternative. Doubt and fear are okay but not failure.”

Before you take your job and shove it:

Do extensive research on businesses and industries that appeal to you.Speak to as many entrepreneurs as possible to get a sense of what it’s really like.Work part-time for a similar business or be the world’s oldest unpaid intern.Make sure you have enough money saved to live on for at least a year.Be sure you have the support of your spouse or significant other.Be aware that starting or buying a business is extremely stressful.Accept that things usually take three times as long and will cost you at least twice as much as you expected.

Create an Informal Advisory Board

The largest companies in the world have all sorts of advisory boards, but entrepreneurs are often reluctant to ask outsiders for help. An advisory board made up of industry leaders, deep thinkers, and trusted colleagues can steer you and your company through the choppiest waters—at very little cost.

Unlike a board of directors, which has legal and fiduciary responsibilities, advisory boards can be set up as formally or as informally as you like. You should offer to pay people a modest sum, perhaps $1,500, to attend one meeting every quarter or twice a year.

Years ago, I served on a small business advisory board created by the American Express Corporate Card group. About a dozen movers and shakers in the small business world met once or twice a year to brainstorm about new Amex financial products and services, review existing products, and share our insights with company executives.

When times were good, we met in five-star hotels. Warm cookies, cold milk, and monogrammed robes welcomed us when we checked into our rooms. During lean years, we met at a hotel across from the office and ate sandwiches. No matter where we met, we enjoyed the experience while providing valuable services and making our own business connections.

So how can an advisory board help your business? If you run a manufacturing company, for instance, invite representatives from your major suppliers, a marketing expert in your field, a retired executive with experience in your industry, and perhaps your accountant or attorney. (Be prepared to pay your advisers their regular fees to attend meetings.)

Meeting at least once a year in person is ideal. But if you have to meet via conference call or online, set a detailed agenda. Start by providing a brief overview of what’s happening at the company. Before the meeting, send out a package or links to financial information, including a current balance sheet, marketing materials, and anything else to bring your advisers up to date.

After you’ve presented a brief overview, listen to their comments and suggestions. Don’t get defensive. You want your “kitchen cabinet” to keep you on track and hold you accountable.

Seek out advisers who will help you take the pulse of your industry and monitor your competition. There’s nothing better than feeling supported by a group of people who believe in what you’re doing.

We rely on a core group of advisers to keep The Applegate Group Inc. on track. My dearest uncle, Steve Coan, a retired partner in a major Wall Street brokerage, is one of the smartest and most intuitive people I know. He’s a whiz with numbers and terrific when it comes to solving sticky personnel problems.

One of my best friends, Kathy Taggares, is a successful entrepreneur and skilled strategist. She always has a fresh perspective to share. Although she’s in the food processing business, she’s media savvy, plugged into popular culture, and makes me laugh no matter how bad things are.

My husband, Joe, is my most trusted adviser. He’s my ethical adviser, responsible for weighing the ramifications of every project I accept. He also calms me down when I start choking on what he calls “emotional hairballs.” He reminds me not to take professional setbacks personally.

Whereas this kind of informal kitchen cabinet is essential for helping you make better decisions, consider establishing a more formal customer advisory board. A survey by Dr. Tony Carter, a professor of sales and marketing at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, found that 21 of the 70 Fortune 500 companies surveyed had customer advisory boards. Nineteen of 21 said the boards were extremely useful.

In the 1990s, Swissötel and Avis (now AvisBudget) both formed women’s advisory boards to tap into the growing women’s travel market. Based on recommendations from its board, Swissötel began offering special services to women business travelers, including prime seats in hotel restaurants serving lighter, healthier spa-style cuisine. They extended health club hours to fit the women’s busy schedules.

Susan Stautberg, a New York City consultant who helps companies create advisory boards, said Avis tried to make women feel more welcome by lowering sections of the check-out counters. In 2010, based on customer feedback, AvisBudget started offering the services of local drivers for an extra fee when you rent a car in certain cities. What a great idea that is, especially for people like me who hate to drive, especially in big cities where I don’t know my way around.

So think about inviting some savvy experts and customers to provide invaluable advice to you and your staff.

Move Your Business into an Incubator

If you think incubators are just for babies and chicks, think again. Incubators offer entrepreneurs financing, real estate, mentoring, inspiration, encouragement, and a mix of compatible neighbors.

There are about 1,500 business incubators in the United States and thousands more abroad, according to the National Business Incubation Association, in Athens, Ohio.

Shapeways, an innovative company that provides rapid manufacturing or 3-D printing solutions to build low-cost product prototypes, began its life in an incubator in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The company, founded in 2007, was invited to participate in a “lifestyle incubator” operated by Royal Philips Electronics.

Life in the incubator meant low-cost office space and free, weekly counseling sessions with one of the incubator’s managers, according to CEO Peter Weijmarshausen. The companies were all start-ups working on high-tech concepts. One company was developing a system to help patients manage their hospital stays. Another was perfecting an electronic gadget that tracked a person’s movement throughout the day.

In September 2010, Shapeways announced it was ready to fly the coop. The company raised $5 million in Series A funding backed by Union Square Ventures in New York, which invested in Foursquare and Twitter, and London-based Index Ventures, which successfully backed Skype and Last.fm.

“Now, with the help of investors, Shapeways will be able to take the democratization of production to the next level,” said Weijmarshausen. He said Philips plans to retain its investment in the company, but he would not disclose the amount.

Shapeways moved its headquarters to New York because most customers live in the United States. He said the company will spend the money raised to upgrade and improve the web site and hire more staffers to ramp up the marketing efforts.

Is Life in an Incubator Right for Your Company?

If you are thinking of moving into an incubator, take a tour and meet with other tenants. Then, get answers to the following questions:

How long has the incubator been in operation?What kinds of businesses have occupied space in the incubator? How long do most businesses stay?What are some of the incubator’s success stories?What specific services and support does the incubator offer tenants?Does the incubator intend to take equity in the businesses it houses? For how long?What financial resources are available to tenants? Access to loans? Introductions to private investors?Are there any hidden fees or charges?Do you require a contract? Can you move out sooner if your business grows too fast or fails to grow?

For more information, visit the National Business Incubation Association’s web site at www.NBIA.org.

“We are revolutionizing personal production,” he said in an exclusive interview. “If you think of a new product, you can put it on the market within a day.”

The company 3-D prints more than 10,000 unique products every month, up from 600 a month in January 2009. (See more about how to design prototypes with affordable software in Great Idea #87.)

Organize a Company Retreat

An annual or semiannual retreat is an excellent way to measure the pulse of your business and tackle small problems before they turn into big ones. You don’t have to book a Caribbean cruise, rent a fancy hotel suite, or even get on a plane. Instead, reserve a private room at a local restaurant, gather around a picnic table in the park, or go to someone’s home. Hire a temp to answer your phones for the day. Tell customers and clients about the retreat. Believe me, they’ll be impressed.

We planned our first retreat after signing a contract to produce a syndicated small business radio report for CBS stations. I knew the report, sponsored by American Express, would raise our profile and attract new business, so we needed to do some big thinking. I flew the key members of my team—all three of us—to Tucson for the weekend. We checked into a modest but comfortable motel, brainstormed at the pool, ate great Mexican food, and had some fun along the way.

If possible, hire an outside facilitator so you can participate. If you can’t afford it and have to lead the discussion, that’s okay.

Be sure to prepare for the retreat in advance. Decide exactly what you want to accomplish. Overall, you will want to review all customer accounts and current policies, and set specific goals. Create an agenda with space for notes.

Use flip charts or a white board to summarize the information and key points. Then open the meeting up to discussion. Go around the circle to encourage everyone’s participation.

After you discuss what’s happened in the past year, review what’s working and what’s not. For example, my colleagues told me that my tendency to micromanage projects was making them crazy. They couldn’t do their work because I was constantly inquiring about their progress. This was painful but important criticism. I owned up to the problem, forced myself to stop hovering, and became a better manager.

Take time to discuss all those annoying behaviors, quirks, and patterns that interfere with productivity. Divide goals into short-term and long-term categories. Some tasks, like sending collection letters to clients, can be accomplished in a week; other jobs may take a month or a year. The most important thing is to make sure everyone agrees on what needs to be done, then set priorities and reasonable deadlines. At the end of the day, brainstorm about some pie-in-the-sky goals.

Try to inject humor into the discussion, especially if you are dealing with serious issues. Remember, listen more than talk.

Create a Greener and Safer Workplace

Creating a greener, safer workplace can improve health and morale while boosting your bottom line. It makes sense because the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that every year indoor air pollution costs U.S. businesses more than $1 billion in medical bills and $60 billion in lost productivity.

Here are some great ideas to implement without spending a lot of time or money:

Design/landscaping:If you are building a new office, make sure your architect orients the building to take advantage of natural light to reduce lighting bills. Design a building that cuts down on unnecessary heating or cooling expenditures.Landscape with native plants that require less water and suit your climate. Try to avoid the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers to protect the local water supply.Building materials. Use materials that reduce indoor pollution. Avoid pressed wood products that are glued together or treated with formaldehyde or other toxins. Be sure your building is well insulated with recycled, nontoxic materials. Look for materials with a high R-value; the higher the number, the better the insulating properties. Reduce drafts with double- or triple-pane windows.Lighting:Take advantage of sunlight whenever possible. Buy motion sensors that turn on when you enter a room. Replace incandescent and fluorescent bulbs with LEDs. One LED can last up to 60,000 hours. Use local, “task” lights rather than general overhead lighting. Install dimmers to reduce energy use.Work with your local utility company or an independent energy auditor. Ask about rebates and other government-funded financial incentives available to business owners.Keep computers out of direct sunlight to avoid glare and tilt monitors away from the window. Buy blinds with a silver coating on one side to reflect sunlight. Whenever possible, install glass above partitions to allow light to filter through the office.Equipment:Look for “Energy Star–rated” copiers, computers, and other equipment that power down when you aren’t using them.When possible, print on both sides of the paper. Avoid printing out e-mail messages or documents whenever possible.Check out the Energy Efficiency Rating (EER) and operating costs of appliances. Purchase a model that doesn’t rely on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to operate. These chemicals deplete the ozone layer.Office supplies. Whenever possible, buy nontoxic highlighters and dry-wipe markers. Buy recycled paper folders, notebooks, pencils, and pens.Recycled products:Try using 50 percent recycled paper for everything from your printing to restroom needs. Reuse office paper for scratch paper.Recycle all the paper you can: white paper, newsprint, and cardboard. Experts say it takes one-third less gross energy to make one sheet of recycled paper compared to “virgin” paper.Recycling programs. Paper is not the only office supply to recycle. You can recycle carpets, computer batteries, computers, printer cartridges, construction-site waste, floppy disks, glass, lightbulbs, holiday cards, light ballasts, and packing materials.Telecommuting/transportation. Encourage your workers to carpool, bike, or use public transportation. Try telecommuting at least one day a week to save time and fuel. Offer transit vouchers or other incentives to offset the cost of commuting.

Think Ergonomically

I’m usually the last one to urge any entrepreneur to spend money on fancy office furniture. In my previous life as a white-collar crime reporter, I quickly learned the glitzier the office, the worse the criminal who owned the company.

But with repetitive-motion injuries costing U.S. business owners hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity and millions more in workers’ comp claims each year, it’s important to make sure you and your employees are sitting on good chairs behind the right kind of desk. (Every year, there are more than 500,000 cases of repeated trauma disorders, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, affecting workers from white-collar executives to meatpackers.)

Providing a safe and comfortable workplace will boost morale as well as help you avoid lawsuits and complaints filed with state labor officials. So don’t be cheap when it comes to outfitting your office.

“The most important investment you can make is in a chair with adjustable lumbar support and height features,” said Mark Dutka, founder of a San Francisco design firm specializing in office furniture.

Rebecca Boenigk, chief executive officer and chairman of Neutral Posture Inc. in Bryan, Texas, is very familiar with comfortable, adjustable office chairs. Her father, Dr. Jerome Congleton, is a professor, national expert on ergonomics, and the person who designs most of the company’s popular chairs.

“If you don’t have proper support, you’ll go home hurting every day,” said Boenigk. “We want you to change the position of your chair all day long and make it easy to do so.”

Recognizing that too many expensive chairs are not properly used, her company produces online videos and includes instruction booklets with every chair. “Some people think a $200 chair is expensive,” she said. “But the chair is the most important part of the workstation.”

Boenigk said treating a minor carpal tunnel injury, caused by too much typing or repetitive wrist movement can cost a company thousands of dollars in medical treatment and physical therapy. A serious injury can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars and may result in a lawsuit.

The market for comfortable office chairs is fueling the industry. There are about 100 ergonomic chair makers, with big companies like Steelcase selling more than $500 million worth of furniture and equipment a year.

“We are never going to be as cheap as chairs from China,” said Boenigk. “If you go to a big box store and buy a $99 chair, six months later you are going to be throwing it in the trash can. We have 7,000 chairs that have been at UPS for 16 years. We wish they would replace them.”

Being small and nimble helped Neutral Posture weather a 50 percent drop in industry sales during the 2008 recession. They cut costs and worked smarter but, rather than hunker down, hired a consultant to craft a three-year marketing and growth plan. “We rebranded the company with a new logo, new web site and new products,” said Boenigk.

It worked. At a major industry trade show, the company’s booth was mobbed with customers. Neutral Posture, with offices in Bryan, Texas, and Ontario, Canada, is a small player, but is considered a leader in its field.

How to Be More Ergonomic

Hire an ergonomics consultant to visit and inspect your office.Determine what equipment you need to reduce back and wrist problems.Start by buying the low-budget items: back support pillows, wrist rests for keyboards, footstools, copyholders, and good lighting.Work your way up to buying new workstations and high-quality chairs.

Make Meetings More Productive

In this high-tech era, it’s a bit surprising to learn that face-to-face meetings are still the most popular form of business communication. In fact, 44 percent of executives surveyed by Office Team, an office staffing service, said they preferred to communicate with people in person. E-mail ranked second, with 34 percent; paper memos, 12 percent; and voice mail, 7 percent.

Still, too many meetings drag on and accomplish very little.

“In these days of rapid change, time is precious, and you can’t afford to waste it in meetings,” said Dr. Mark Goulston, a Santa Monica psychiatrist, author, and business coach who works with both big and small companies.

One of Goulston’s great ideas is to give a quiz at the end of a meeting. “We ask whether everyone really understands what was discussed,” said Goulston. He also suggests asking, “What are you going to do differently and why?”

This strategy avoids “collusion” between meeting leaders and participants who sometimes just pretend to be listening or interested—or, worse yet, agree with their bosses to gain favored-employee status.

Here are some other tips to make your meetings more productive:

Schedule meetings just before lunch so people will act quickly.Send out an agenda before the meeting.Invite the fewest number of people possible. Only meet when absolutely necessary.

Meet Clients in Elegant Public Places

The greatest thing about working at home is being able to spend more on high-tech, high-productivity office equipment, travel, marketing, and entertainment. But the challenge is where to meet with a client or customer?

If kids, dogs, or family members preclude you from inviting people to your home office, make reservations.

No matter where you live, you can meet in an elegant restaurant or hotel lobby. Be sure to scout out the location before you schedule the appointment. Check out the parking situation. Better yet, look for a place with valet parking.

Reserve a quiet table far from the kitchen. Make it very clear to the maître d’ that your meeting is very important to your professional success. When you arrive and are shown to your table, be sure to give the maître d’ a generous tip ($10 to $20).

Another classy idea: If sharing a meal isn’t an option, invite your client to join you for tea or cocktails at a luxury hotel. Late afternoon is an excellent time for a leisurely business meeting because it doesn’t interfere with lunch or dinner plans.

If your client prefers to skip the food and drinks, just meet in a secluded section of a fine hotel lobby. If you are well dressed and quiet, no one will ask you to leave. My favorite hotels for meetings are the St. Regis and the Regency in New York City. Poolside at the affordable and funky Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City, California, is the perfect meeting spot for my film projects or auditions.