Having the best tools to get work done for my clients is what I strive for. Paying for them is sometimes a challenge, taking all other costs I have into consideration. This is where I have to justify if the tool, whether is is hardware, software or what have you, will make me more productive or give me a competitive advantage.

As a small business owner I have the luxury of making these decisions. Over the years of working for others, this decision making varied. Sometimes my immediate manager would make the decision. In this case the request process was generally fair, especially for the managers who actually knew what I did on a daily basis.

Some of the companies I worked for – usually the larger ones – made these decisions based on blanket policies that set justification based on your title or position and not on business need. Such a policy assumes upper management are typically the ones that need and will use more advanced tools. Whether or not they actually use them at all or to their fullest is more than likely never followed up on. If you try getting any particular tool whose distribution was based on such arcane rules – forget about it, no matter how well you are able to justify its need it will fail.

I have personally encountered this over the years in requests for business cards, email access, software, access to the company’s VPN to work from home, a notebook computer (when I was traveling for work), a decent-sized monitor and a mobile device for email. Though these requests spanned a period of almost 2 decades, I continue to hear such stories today from others.

Such policies are driven by the desire to control costs, and the only costs being monitored are cash expenditures. Opportunity cost is never usually taken into consideration. How much less productive is an employee when they do not have a tool to be more efficient? How about their overall team? Or how about opportunities lost when people are not able to get in touch with people outside the office who do not have a mobile device to reach co-workers? And don’t forget the cost of rehiring an employee who leaves a job if they feel they are not respected to handle the "fancy toys" their managers have.

With the season of generosity around the corner, managers and companies should take a hard look at what it really costs to be in business and not be penny wise and pound foolish.

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Tomorrow, Thursday, November 8 is the “official” 3rd birthday of my Internet consulting business Dunkirk Systems. Where I was already in business before this date, it marks the day I emerged from the bowels of the Cook County Office Building with my certificate stating my sole proprietorship is called Dunkirk Systems. Yes, it was a surreal moment where I felt like Jake and Elwood Blues!

I am inviting my friends, clients and readers of by blog The Hot Iron to join me in celebrating this. If you are in Chicago, please join me:

Date – TOMORROW, Thursday, November 8, 2007
Place – Gallery 37 Cafe, 66 East Randolph, Chicago
Time – 8 am to 9:30 am CT (note the cafe opens at 8 am)

And the coffee is on me! They offer other tasty treats if you wish to purchase them yourself, but I will be springing for the coffee, tea or whatever other beverage you prefer to start your day.

Please no cards or gifts. But if you insist, make a donation to the American Liver Foundation – Illinois Chapter.

See you then!

Announcements • Business • (9) Comments • Permalink

While perusing the "catchall" folder on my PC, I found this photo - it is of me at the Green Festival in Chicago this past spring. At the booth for Co-Op America, they asked people to write down something they do for the environment and have their picture taken with it. I chose the first thing that came to mind, printing on both sides of a sheet of paper.

Seeing this photo caused me to digress a bit from my daily routine and write down other things I consciously do having a positive impact on the environment. As I scrawled them on my white board, categorized and entered them into my content management system, I realized what I had was a draft of the Dunkirk Systems Environmental Statement. As I am working on content for my Web site, this is a logical statement to add.

In the spirit of blogging, I decided to post the draft here and solicit input. Here goes...

Reduce

• Use PDF documents and digital signatures rather than paper for contracts, invoices, etc.
• Power off computers at night
• Use whiteboard instead of paper
• Use eFax.com, which delivers faxes as PDF documents, instead of a fax machine
• Purchased duplexing laser printer to print on 2 sides of paper
• Minimal inkjet printer use
• For printing draft documents, use low ink and toner settings
• Always carry a compact shopping bag or pack
• Decrease burning of CDs and use Flash or portable hard drives and FTP of Zip files
• If an in-person meeting is required, walk or take public transportation over taxi and driving

Reuse

• Reuse paper – print on both sides or use for scrap
• Reuse packaging – boxes, padded envelopes
• Use reusable UPS envelopes for overnight shipping

Recycle

• Shred all confidential or personalized documents and recycle
• Recycle all other paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, etc.
• Give read books to friends and colleagues
• Recycled dead UPS (uninterruptible power supply) to vendor for credit towards a new one
• Return ink cartridges to Staples for recycling (do not refill ink cartridges due to reliability issues)
• Donate unneeded items to Goodwill

Rebuy

• Buy recycled products
• Seek products with minimal packaging
• Seek out stores and vendors that sell environmentally-friendly products and share my passion for the environment

So what do you think? Did I leave out something obvious? Have a question on something there?

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Whenever I search for a particular domain name, I still cross my fingers hoping it is not already registered. If not, then I register it, whether it is for me or for my clients. If it is already registered, then several steps come into play, from monitoring the domain name for when (or more likely if) it becomes available to the search for alternative names. On occasion there is that certain domain name or names someone wants that is worthy of taking yet another step – trying to purchase it from the current registrar.

Salesforce.com, leader in hosted Web-based applications commonly referred to as “software as a service” did just that, and after a 4-year negotiation they acquired the domain name force.com for an undisclosed price. As Salesforce.com’s business has progressed and changed, the “sales” portion of the name is only a part of their overall offering. The name force.com was ideal, yet already owned by someone – Force Technology of California which was founded by Gordon Force. Not only was the company named “force” but so was the owner! Keeping those facts in mine doesn’t make it surprising it took the length of a presidential term to acquire it.

In an industry like the Internet where multiple seconds can be an eternity, such a wait could be considered not worth the effort. Many times, waiting that long is also not feasible, as the naming and branding of the business may not be able to wait. In such a case, business and life must go on and an alternate domain name or names must be selected. Continuing the pursuit of a domain name, however, is not out of the question.

“Everything is negotiable” is a phrase I remember from many of my college business courses. Though the length of those negotiations may go longer than one would hope, a successful outcome, as with Force.com, makes it all the more sweeter.

Business • Domain Names • (2) Comments • Permalink

Earlier this year Chicago was all abuzz when the city was designated the US applicant city for the 2016 Summer Olympics. After a head-to-head battle with Los Angeles, the US Olympic committee voted and selected the Windy City to compete against several cities from around the world to host the international event. The final decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be made in 2009.

A rally was held in Chicago the Monday after the decision was made, and then the buzz seemed to die. Other than a few stories about venue locations and the need for the Chicago bid logo to change (it had a torch in it, which violated Olympic branding rules, and the new logo is shown here), there was no news or events surrounding the bid until the recent international boxing event. But other than a parade through the city, unless you were a boxing fan, you probably weren’t involved.

There’s about a year and a half between now and when the IOC makes its choice for the host city. I am sure there are many tasks and activities going on in the background that are not public and do not need to be. Posters with the new logo just started appearing on ad space in the downtown Loop area. But the buzz and excitement of getting such an event, even if it is 9 years away, just isn’t here.

So how can I help get the Games to Chicago? I have blogged about the Olympics before. I also created my own custom return address labels with the logo on them, though I have no idea if that is in violation of some trademark usage rules. I have this feeling that there’s more that the common resident could do, especially with the potential economic impact to the city.

For a city that prides itself on being a center for advertising and marketing, more must be done to engage the people of Chicago in the city’s bid to get the 2016 Olympics. Otherwise, when the few messages that hit the public come out, they may not get the reception they require, let alone stir the soul.

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