We’re excited to bring a new series to the Business.com blog, where we conduct Q&As with people throughout the country who wanted to start a small business and have seen success in doing so. We ask them for their thoughts on how challenging it has been to start a company, and collect some tips and advice that could help you take that next important step in becoming a small business owner.

For the first of our series, we spoke with Joe Proulx, owner of Elite Backyard Rinks, located in Bedford, NH. Though Joe has been in business only a year, he used the questions from readers of his blog, Backyard-Hockey.com, to identify an eager local market for his services. Since his business is seasonal, he was able to jump on the opportunity right as the busy season began, and had an impressive first year. Now, with more time to plan and market before next winter, he’s looking forward to many more successful seasons of business.

Tell us about your business.

We are a small, NH-based business that designs and installs backyard skating rinks, in addition to selling parts and supplies for DIY rink builders.

Why did you start this company?

I started blogging about backyard rinks several years ago, and while only 25% of my blog contained instructional, how-to-like posts, they received the most consistent traffic month after month. I realized that if people online needed help building rinks, then local people likely did as well. After reaching out to several other backyard rink companies (none of which were local to me), I decided to give a go at building rinks in my area.

What’s your favorite thing about running your own business?

My favorite thing about running my own business is the satisfaction of knowing that my company is serving a need in my community. I am passionate about backyard rinks and how they bring families together during the winter months, and I take great joy in knowing that other families are able to experience this because of my company. The sincere appreciation my customers show is the barometer that tells me we’re doing our job the right way.

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in growing your company?

For me, it’s twofold: not spending too much on advertising and marketing, and trying to grow the company without debt or a large financial investment. The issues go hand in hand. Before I started my company, I’d go to fairs, parades, and other places where lots of folks congregate and never think twice about the businesses who set up shop there. Now I see it [through] an entirely new lens, and everything seems like a great marketing opportunity. The challenge is really pinpointing my target audience and making sure my marketing efforts (and dollars) are spent wisely.

Likewise, as much as I want to grow my business, I need to balance that desire with a sound financial strategy. For my particular situation, being a parent of young children, I need to ensure that my business grows organically without unnecessary debt or financing. It may grow slower, but the security of having no debtors is worth it.

Of all the ways you’re marketing your business, what has been most effective?

I’ve had success using a mixture of on-site advertising (for me, that means signs posted at local hockey rinks) and leveraging my high-traffic blog to funnel potential customers to my business website. Paid advertising, like AdWords and Facebook, hasn’t been effective at all.

What mistakes have you made along the way?

Not saving up enough time off from my day job to handle the demand brought on by my business!

Final words of wisdom for anyone wondering how to get started?

Just do it! Analysis, research, surveys…these are all important things to do when starting a business. But nothing will replace action. Build a website, launch a product, list your services, and just get started!

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I bet half of the people who saw “meme” clicked on this link half terrified that they would be Rick Roll’d, right? That seems as good an introduction as any to the use of memes as a marketing solution for online business visibility. Or, at least it is a starting point that got your attention.

What Is a Meme?

In popular culture today, a meme is content that has become viral online and is regularly shared or referenced – for example, “I Can Haz Cheezburger.” Occasionally, this phenomenon will become centered around a person, such as the “Ancient Aliens” meme consisting of a still of Giorgio A. Tsoukalos.

However, the true definition of a meme is: “An element of a culture or behavior that may be passed from one individual to another by non-genetic means, esp. imitation.”

In other words, this is a reference or imitation done in popular culture that is passed from one person to another. It has always been a concept that humans have followed, and it always will be. It just happens to have an online context know.

How Can It Be Applied to Marketing?

You are probably already starting to see the potential application here. The purpose of online marketing or any other form of marketing is to spread the word of your service or product to your target audience. The point of a meme is to spread something from person to person, becoming a part of the day’s pop culture.

While you will have to update your use of current memes – as all memes become stale over time – it is a convenient way to rope your message in with something that is social on a whole new level.

Used Memes vs. Original Memes

The real trick is knowing when to use memes already established and when to create your own.

Using a meme that is already well known has a ton of benefits. Anyone viewing it who has even a small amount of experience on the web will probably recognize the image. That immediately creates a tie in their minds.

For example, earlier this year Virgin Media started using “Success Kid” in its advertising. The image of a little boy gripping sand in his fist with a triumphant look on his face has become one of the biggest memes on the web. So the use of the image on Virgin’s billboards has been very beneficial.

Other companies might make a meme without realizing it. One instance of this is Geico Insurance. Its commercial featuring a little pig squealing “all the way home” has become very well known and immediately recognizable by most of its audience.

Conclusion

Using a meme or creating your own is a great way to spread a message and provide immediately shareable content with your target base. All it takes is a little creativity, and you can generate a viral image, video or item that will pass through the web population faster than you thought possible.

Tom Chu is the SEO manager at PsPrint, a Chicago commercial printing company specializing in business card and poster printing among other popular services.

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Anyone that steps into a mall in the middle of a large city may feel that the apparel industry is crowded. The truth is, there is always room for another apparel store, particularly if you offer consumers something that’s unique and new to your area. To truly have a leg up, stay keenly aware of the trends in your local market, be aware of what’s happening in your nearby mall, understand how pop culture (including movies, books, and games) influences fashion choices, and know what the demographics in your area demand.

One more thing: you must really love the clothing business to start a small business in this industry. Like the restaurant industry (and, frankly, any other kind of small business), there are risks.  Seeing success in the retail clothing industry requires motivation, hard work, and a solid plan of action:

File Your Legal Structure

Look to the Small Business Administration’s website to determine which is the most appropriate legal structure for your business. You can incorporate your business online yourself, or you can work with a lawyer to make sure you take all the necessary steps. They’ll help you obtain a tax ID number, and can advise on which business licenses you may need. You’ll also want to look into setting up any necessary insurance.

Put Together Your Business Plan

What kind of clothing will you sell in your store? Evaluate whether your market will take to a new men’s, women’s or children’s clothing store, or whether you should sell a combination of these. You can choose a specialty, such as vintage clothing for women, maternity, sportswear and accessories, or some other category.  Having to spell out these details is necessary for a comprehensive business plan, but you’ll also want to determine your start-up costs, evaluate the local market, and develop a sales and marketing plan.

Secure Financing

Starting a clothing store is no inexpensive feat. In the case of fashion, you’ll need to spend money to make money. It’s likely you’ll need to borrow money to fund your business through a small business bank loan. You may consider working in the fashion industry or in a clothing store to not only learn the ropes of the industry, but also save some money to fund your company. It’s important not to underestimate the amount of financial capital you’ll need to get started. You’ll need to purchase merchandise, pay store employees, buy marketing materials, furnish the store with fixtures and lighting, and other expenses.

Find Your Storefront

Finding the right location is one of the most important decisions you’ll have to make when opening a clothing store. Not only do you need to commit to a location in a specific state, in a specific town, but then you need to consider the various neighborhoods and streets which will bring you foot traffic and a large consumer base interested in (and able to afford) your merchandise.

Once you’ve narrowed down your location options, you’ll need find the right building. Consider storefronts in strip malls or in stand-alone locations, or look into mall leases if it’s suitable for your type of clothing store. You’ll have to keep in mind your inventory numbers: How much square footage will you need? What can you afford, and what will it cost to fill your store with merchandise?

Purchase Inventory

Speaking of inventory, you’ll want to get the process moving to purchase merchandise from designers or manufacturers at the same time that you settle on a location. To start, you’ll need to get in touch with vendors who carry the clothing that you want to sell. A trade show is one of the best places to buy wholesale merchandise for your store. At trade shows, you’ll be able to connect with suppliers and see first-hand their product offerings.

When making orders, consider the amount you’ll need when you first open your store, plus the inventory you’ll need to regularly replace the items that sell. Don’t forget seasonal trends, plus those new styles and brands that become popular due to pop culture influence. You’ll need to have a diverse mix of clothing, while understanding that you won’t necessarily be able to satisfy everyone that walks through your door.

Throughout the process, research the best way to set your prices based on the merchandise you’re selling. You’ll need to determine your mark-up amount, understand effective pricing techniques for your type of store, and know how to discount merchandise effectively.

Establish Policies

Anticipate any problems or questions that might arise when it comes to employees, store hours, customer service, loss prevention, damages, returns, and other day-to-day operations. Spend some time considering best practices from other established stores, and distribute these procedures to all new employees.

Market Your Store

When you’re ready to open your doors, don’t be afraid to tell everyone. From friends and family to those you’re connected with on social media, be sure you have a message to share with them and reasons they should shop at your new store. You might consider having an open house with special discounts, giveaways, and other “little extras.” Put your best foot forward and put a particular emphasis on amazing customer service. You may consider advertising your clothing store in your local newspaper or radio, on Facebook, or in your local lifestyle magazine.

Keep the momentum going by sponsoring fashion shows, sample sales, trunk shows, holiday promotions and other special days to celebrate your customers and give them new, exciting reasons to visit your store.

Photo source: usbar.net 

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What VoIP Offers

VoIP telephony in business phone systems provides several advantages over PBX systems:

• Cost savings – VoIP calls range from very inexpensive to free
• Portability – connectivity and cost don’t depend on location or distance. VoIP doesn’t “care” whether you’re calling halfway around the world or calling an employee at the cross-town branch office. Furthermore, VoIP phone numbers are completely portable, so if you go to work in another branch office, your phone number goes with you.
• Lots of features – audio conferencing, video conferencing, voice mail transcription, call forwarding, call waiting, fax over email, and easy sending of multimedia files

What PBX Brings to the Table

The main advantage that the classic PBX system offers over VoIP business phone systems is dependability. With VoIP systems, businesses risk the following problems if they choose a VoIP provider with poor quality control:

• Latency – delay in delivery of words from speaker to listener. When latency is greater than 150 milliseconds each way, the flow of conversation can be affected.
• Packet loss – data that is lost between the parties talking on the phone
• Network jitter – data that arrives out of order
• Distorted audio
• Disconnects

VoIP actually has the potential to provide higher quality of service than the PSTN (public switched telephone network) as long as there is sufficient bandwidth. However, keeping costs down with VoIP systems right now means that VoIP quality of service can (but doesn’t necessarily) fall short of that of traditional PBX systems that use the PSTN. Finally, VoIP systems are power-supply dependent. If your power goes out, so does your VoIP system, and that was not the case with PBX systems that used the PSTN.

How PBX and VoIP Are Combined

VoIP business phone providers today offer adapters and services necessary to change PBX equipment to VoIP equipment. VoIP phones can be software-based “soft phones” or hardware instruments that look just like normal phones. Adapters allow PBX phones that use the PSTN network to be used as VoIP phones. The blending of analog and IP business phones eliminates businesses’ needs to add analog landline phones when they want to expand or upgrade their system.

Benefits to Users and Businesses

Users of combined PBX-VoIP systems enjoy normal phone operation along with enhanced features like smart call routing and auto-attendant features that ensure calls are routed to the correct recipient. Administrators benefit by being able to expand or reconfigure their phone system quickly and easily, without the necessity of adding expensive copper wiring to the existing system. And businesses are able to save significantly over the costs of expanding or reconfiguring a traditional wire-based PBX system.

Is Combined PBX-VoIP the Future of Business Phone Systems?

The combination of PBX and VoIP telephony is already reality. As VoIP continues to improve its quality of service, the shift away from PBX and toward VoIP will accelerate. In fact, many “traditional” PBX systems make use of IP packet switching in their own networks.

As businesses demand more versatility, features, and savings, PBX systems will have to incorporate VoIP into their systems in order to compete with VoIP business phone systems. Eventually, copper-wired PBX systems could become obsolete, with VoIP taking over. The phone systems that combine PBX and VoIP make it unnecessary for businesses with existing PBX systems to completely uninstall their PBX equipment in order to enjoy the cost and flexibility benefits of VoIP systems. Now that’s the best of both worlds.

Image Link:

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1224063

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When you feel the calling to start your own business, you hear the cautionary words all the time: Starting a small business is challenging and risky. The stats about success aren’t in your favor. Funding is hard to come by. The economy is threatening. These suggestions paralyze many would-be entrepreneurs into not taking that first step.

At the end of the day, though, starting a small business really isn’t all that difficult. These four steps lead you through the process:

Step 1: Incorporating

Incorporating your business encompasses all of the administrative paperwork you need to file and put through the system in order to have your business legally recognized by the government. Each state has its own rules around the steps you need to take. Head to the website of the Small Business Administration and the IRS to decide what form of business entity to establish, to apply for an EIN tax ID number, and to learn more about self-employment or small business taxes.

Step 2: Finding Funding

In today’s business market, you have more options for funding than many generations of entrepreneurs before you. Commercial banks have eased the tight lending conditions on small business bank loans, and websites like Kickstarter enable crowdfunding at an incredibly accessible level. Many small businesses are also self-funded, and if you’re able to set aside money for your own venture, this is a great way to start off without being in debt to someone else.

Depending on the nature of your business, you may also consider raising venture capital. You’ll want to approach this carefully and will need to have an air-tight business plan. Be sure to conduct a lot of research on the proper ways to meet, contact, and pitch to VCs. One constant that we hear from many in the entrepreneurial community is this: it is imperative to get a warm introduction to a VC. That is, he’ll be more likely to give you some of his valuable time if someone he knows and trusts puts you in touch.

Step 3: Developing Your Offerings

Whether you’re creating a new set of products or using your skills to offer services to others, you’ll need to spend some time developing your offerings. Putting together your business plan will help flesh out many of the details you’ll need to think through. Who is your target customer? What need are you filling for them? What skills and ideas do you currently have, and which do you need to develop and/or hire for? If you’re developing a tangible product to be used by consumers, research shipping and distribution options, and reach out to partners that can help you get your product into the right hands. You’ll need a prototyping or sample to start with.

If you can (and you should), spend time talking to people in your target market and walk them through your existing products and services. Ask them what is missing, and brainstorm with these potential customers on ways you can differentiate yourself from the competition. When you put their ideas into action, communicate that to them and keep them apprised of your efforts and progress.

Step 4: Marketing & Selling Your Product

Once you have established your product or services and are ready to serve customers, you’ll need to promote and market your company. In your discussions with potential customers through the product development phase, you should have been able to see trends in how your customers access information and what they consider when making purchasing decisions. Use this insight to devise your marketing plan.

Marketing properly will take both time and money. Budget will go toward traditional advertising, if you feel that’s a smart way to get in front of your customers, in the form of banner advertising, Facebook ads, direct mail, and sponsorships. Social media contests, some blogger outreach programs, and a properly designed and functioning website will also cost money, so be prepared to “spend money to make money,” as they say.

On the “free,” organic side of marketing, be sure to set up a presence on Facebook and Twitter. You will need to work hard to develop a significant following here, but these channels give you a great way to communicate with customers en masse, get their feedback, and keep them apprised of product development.

Photo source: facebook.com

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Cloud-based services can save businesses time and money. VoIP phone systems can save businesses time and money. So what happens when your business puts cloud-based and VoIP services together in your business phone system? In most cases the answer is even greater savings. Here are seven ways cloud-based business phone systems can save your company time and money.

1. Time Savings in Setting up Your Phone System

Setting up a traditional PBX business phone system used to involve workers bringing in equipment, drilling holes in walls, running lines, and generally disrupting things in order to get a phone system in place. A cloud-based VoIP system can be set up almost instantly, with no wires or drilling, and no equipment beyond handsets or headsets except for a call router, which is relatively simple to set up.

2. Time Savings for Reconfiguring or Scaling Your Phone System

At one time, adding a new employee meant finding a phone line that wasn’t in use or adding a new line. Today, it’s a matter of reconfiguring the phone system by clicking settings on a web page or even on a mobile app. Some businesses that choose a “bring your own device” setup can add an office phone number to an employee’s smartphone and avoid even the time needed to track down a new handset or headset.

3. Quicker Phone System Repairs

With cloud-based services, your phone system administrator communicates with the service provider on a web-based dashboard. Since cloud services are manned around-the-clock, fixing a problem is far quicker than the old days when you had to schedule a technician to come to your business, diagnose, and fix the problem.

4. Time Savings in Finding Employees for Calls or Other Reasons

Today’s cloud-based VoIP systems make it much easier to find employees. “Find me Anywhere” features allow employees to forward numbers to their smart phone, so that they’re reachable in the office, in the field, or while traveling. Gone are the days of finding out whether an employee is in the office and when they are expected back, followed by tracking down a number where they can be reached or taking a message not knowing whether or when they would receive it. With cloud-based systems, “finding” an employee is much easier.

5. Major Cost Savings on Phone Infrastructure

“Infrastructure” for cloud-based VoIP systems can be very close to nonexistent. Depending on the setup, businesses may need to set up a router, and they may provide handsets or headsets to employees, but with VoIP features that allow calls to be easily routed to employees’ own handsets on a virtual business phone line, infrastructure costs can plummet even more.

6. Automated Transcription Saves on Time and Money Spent on Recordkeeping

Some cloud-based phone systems have features like automated transcription. Suppose a customer calls and the person he or she is seeking is in a meeting and can’t answer. The call may be routed elsewhere, or it may be sent to a voice mail system where the voice message is automatically transcribed and can be sent by email to the intended recipient. No more jotting down messages and hoping they don’t get lost in a stack of papers. Automated transcription is also an excellent record-keeping application, making it easy to review messages and the call content that may have been automatically transcribed weeks ago.

7. Auto-Attendant Feature Saves Money and Time Spent on Reception Tasks

Having an office receptionist is a luxury for many small businesses, and cloud-based VoIP systems with an “auto-attendant” feature do away with this expense. Many systems have this popular feature, and here’s the great thing: auto-attendants never get sick, never go on vacation, and can take calls around the clock.

Today’s businesses have to be more connected than ever to stay competitive, and cloud-based business phone systems allow maximum connectivity with a minimum of expense on infrastructure, configuration, and repair services.

Image Link:

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/430632

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Starting a new church or ministry can be an incredibly rewarding and fruitful line of work. Some churches are started and expanded upon by people who want to further the word of an existing faith, and some are built upon brand new religious beliefs.

It can be very challenging in starting a small business such as a church, but tapping into your entrepreneurial spirit and surrounding yourself with like-minded supporters can help you forge through to fulfill your calling.

Consider the seven following steps to start a church:

1. Incorporate

Filing the Articles of Incorporation is the first step to starting a church. Articles of Incorporation spell out the legal and financial structure of your church. At the end of the day, a church is a type of business, and this process asserts your church as an official, legally-recognized corporation. Incorporating helps you to protect yourself from legal action, thereby limiting the liability and risks of the individual members. Each state has its own requirements for filing Articles of Incorporation. Review your state’s requirements and incorporation documents, which can typically be found on your State’s Secretary of State website.

2. Apply for EIN

On behalf of your church, should request an Employer Identification Number (EIN), which is issued to all formal organizations for the purpose of tax administration. You can get an EIN by calling 1-800-829-4933, or you can by submit the necessary forms online at the IRS website.

3. Create Bylaws

The constitution and bylaws of your church are governing documents for your ministry. Bylaws generally include an extensive declaration of faith, which is a statement of your beliefs and an explanation of virtually everything when it comes to the church’s conduct. In addition to being a manual for how your church carries out your beliefs, bylaws might serve as a source of defense in a court of law (should you ever find yourself in a lawsuit).

4. File 501(c)(3)

A recognized church is not required to file the Form 1023 to be tax exempt. Churches are automatically tax exempt without having to ask the IRS for something in writing (The Exemption Ruling Letter).  There are certain benefits in having this designation, so if you do want to apply for tax exempt recognition under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, find the application form at the IRS website.  You may find it’s helpful to get an attorney to help with this if you can afford one.

5. Build a Team

If you’re starting a church off an existing religion, find people from outside the church or ministry to serve as a “board of directors,” otherwise known as your church’s elders. These should be people that you know, trust, are familiar with your faith, and have experience leading others. As you get underway, you’ll want to look for members of your congregation whom you can rely on to serve as evangelists for your ministry and help you bring the message to others.

6. Find a Space

It’s been said that a church is “not the building, but the people.” You may agree, but you may still want a designated building or space in which to practice your faith and to serve as a gathering space for your followers. If you’re not in a place to build from the ground-up, consider renting existing space, such as a local school or office meeting room. You can also hold meetings at your own home. There may be local zoning ordinances against churches, so be sure to check with the mayor’s office in the town or city you’re located.

7. Spread the Word and Solicit Donations

Spreading the word and soliciting donations are not one in the same, and you’ll want to balance the two wisely. Finances are generally going to be limited when starting your new church. Unless your members and followers are willing to fund the ministry from the start, you’ll have to get into the practice of raising funds. It’s helpful to reach out to friends, family, other believers, and other ministries to invite them to your faith and ask for financial support.

In addition to soliciting donations, you’ll want to actively, and continuously, recruit members and continue sharing your faith. If you can, spread the word via social media, and consider taking out ads locally or sending flyers or postcards to let others in your town to let them know more about your church. You may be able to take advantage of offerings and special pricing for non-profits from companies that create marketing materials.

Photo source: myshilohumc.net

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The line between mobile phone calls and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls is growing thinner all the time due to a rapid increase in the use of mobile VoIP for making calls. Mobile VoIP is revolutionizing business phone systems, and many landline and mobile calls make use of VoIP technologies without customers even noticing.

The use of VoIP was bound to brush up against policies and regulations sooner or later, and on May 8, Delta Airlines passenger Talmon Marco was reprimanded for using his phone to make a VoIP call while en route from New Orleans to New York. He was met at the gate in New York by Port Authority police, who questioned and then released him.

Marco, founder and CEO of Viber, a company that created a smartphone app for mobile VoIP calls, argues that VoIP is not the same as a mobile phone call (which would be disallowed under FAA rules), while Delta at first begged to differ. Eventually Delta justified their reprimand of Marco by saying that his actions violated the terms and conditions of the inflight internet provider Gogo.

Is Using Mobile VoIP Equivalent to Using a Mobile Phone?

Yes and no. To the user, the experience of using mobile VoIP is (in ideal WiFi coverage situations) just like making a normal phone call. However, instead of using typical mobile phone networks, the call is connected over the internet, so on the technical end of things, a VoIP call is not like making a normal mobile phone call.

Is Using Mobile VoIP Equivalent to Surfing the Internet?

Again, the answer is both yes and no. If you’re the one participating in a VoIP call, the experience is not like surfing the net, but like making a call. But how the VoIP call takes place is similar to how people send and receive information over the internet through instant messaging.

How VoIP Works

Traditional mobile phones actually communicate by radio frequencies and each phone has a low-power transmitter in it. In every city, each carrier has a Mobile Telephone Switching Office, or MTSO. The MTSO coordinates the frequencies your phone uses when you make a call, which allows you to talk to someone on their cell phone by what is essentially a sophisticated two-way radio.

If you are traveling while you talk, the base station you’re leaving and the base station you’re getting close to coordinate through the MTSO and the call is handed off from one base station to another as you travel without you noticing it.

With VoIP, you can place a call anywhere broadband is available.

VoIP uses packet switching to transmit voice data. When one party to the call is speaking, only half the connection is actually being used. When neither party is talking, no data is transmitted. The voice data packet of someone speaking travels to the other party along any one of thousands of possible digital routes. Here’s what happens:

The computer sending the voice data slices and dices it into small data packets, each with an address telling the network where it should be sent. The sending computer sends the data packet to a router, which sends it to another router closer to the person receiving the call, and another and another, until the data packet gets to the receiving computer and is reassembled into its original state (the sound of the sender’s voice). Packet switching is highly efficient and sends data along the cheapest and least congested lines, which is why VoIP calls cost so much less than regular cell phone calls.

Practical Implications

The prohibitions on mobile phone calls in flight have to do with radio frequency transmission, which is what the plane’s flight deck uses. Airlines want to eliminate, as much as possible, the chances that a stray radio frequency transmission could affect the flight equipment. VoIP, which travels via internet, does not present this problem, which was the reason Mr. Marco believed he was not doing anything illegal when he made the VoIP call on the Delta flight.

Once Marco pointed out that he was not using the cell network, the Delta flight attendant cited a policy stating that airlines block VoIP call applications not due to any FAA safety requirements, but because the airlines want to address “the overwhelming majority of their customers, who prefer silent communications to the public nature of Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) calls.” In other words, nobody wants to spend their flight next to a loud cell phone talker. Delta later officially said that the VoIP call was in violation of the terms of service of Gogo, Delta’s in-flight internet provider. Instant messages and email transmission are not prohibited, however.

The Future of In-Flight VoIP Calls

In the United States, 85% of flights provide access to the internet, which costs passengers an average of about $3.00 per hour, and which may provide patchy connectivity and slow data speeds.

In the UK, telecommunications provider Inmarsat plans to team up with the American company Honeywell to deliver global in-flight internet that includes VoIP service. Using the satellites to be launched by Inmarsat, 100% coverage is anticipated, with data speeds of 10 to 50 Mbps. The UK anticipates reduced cost or free access starting in 2013.

Whether the Inmarsat-Honeywell project will affect U.S. flights and how soon it could be available is not yet clear. In the meantime, however, stick to in-flight email or instant messaging and hold off on placing VoIP calls unless you want to face a welcoming party of law enforcement officers when you land.

Image Link:

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1095633

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Many businesses have been overrun by people who’ve heard the story of the tortoise and the hare too many times.

These people go to one of two extremes when analyzing data to make their decisions: they rush through it, barely giving the numbers a second glance (the hares), or they plod through the material so slowly that they seem paralyzed to take anything away from it (the tortoises). While it’s great that companies have realized the need to collect data, what they do with that information is just as important as the information itself.

Don’t Focus on the Wrong Numbers

Running a business is a lot like running a race. The end result is most often what propels the participants to keep moving forward – it’s the carrot dangling over all the competitors’ heads. Sometimes, that glittery outcome distracts people from the real point of the race.

In the 4×400 relay, four athletes run separate, but equal, legs of the race. The relay team that finishes first might reasonably assume that on that day, they completed the relay the best. They’ll stand on the podium, receive their recognition, and return to the practice track, confident that they know what it takes to win. The teams that finished lower might question their performance: why did they lose? Where did their process fail?

And here’s where measurement and assessment become so critical. The relay race is actually a complex task with no fewer than 8 critical elements:

1. The start
2. Leg #1
3. First exchange of the baton
4. Leg #2
5. Second exchange of the baton
6. Leg #3
7. Third exchange of the baton
8. Leg #4

Because of this complexity, the team with the fastest four athletes is not always the team that wins. Though success is commonly judged by who crosses the finish line first, this simple assessment isn’t going to enhance the team’s performance, and it may actually undermine their overall process improvement.

Good teams, and good companies, will focus their energies on fine-tuning the finite elements of complex tasks. Hours are spent perfecting the start, team members practice endless exchanges, and teammates work for years on their acceleration and top-end speed. If they ignore any single element, failure is almost guaranteed. If you spend all your time focused on who comes in first, you can be assured it won’t be you.

Bad Data is Worse than No Data

Having a clear picture of what, and how, to assess performance is among the most critical competencies any business can evolve.

Every valid process improvement model begins with a thorough exploration of what can, and should, be measured. For this reason, the science of assessment is one of the greatest missing pieces in business – it must be rational, objective, critical, and timely. It must have context. Bad data is worse than no data because it gives you a skewed perspective on what’s before you.

But time after time, it seems that companies are content on accepting sales figures and customer satisfaction reports as the “be all and end all” of their business analytics. While these analytics are important to consider, companies that stop here are only learning what they have achieved – not what they could achieve.

The pieces that combined to create the success – or lack of it – displayed in these sales figures and customer satisfaction reports are the elements that businesses can truly work on. Attention needs to be focused on the details, from how long sales associates interacted with customers to what stock stores had on hand in each size, color, and style. Each piece impacts the final result.

How to Make Informed Decisions

In order to shift companies’ focus from the basic end game to breaking down the parts of each process, businesses need to establish effective assessment cultures. Encourage team members to see that deconstructing business processes is the only path to process improvement. Then, companies can build consensus around 3-4 critical elements of each business process that determine its success.

Use the relay analogy to help teammates see that processes are as dependent on each of them, and their responsibilities, as races are upon athletes’ exchanges. We must measure and assess each, not to punish our co-workers, but to pinpoint weaknesses in our processes that we can strengthen together. This will help drive home the idea that sustainable success is a journey, not a destination.

At the end of every relay, the top-performing teams stand on the awards podium.

Sure, the moment is special for the team that crossed the finish line first – on that day, they performed the fastest, and there’s little doubt that winning feels great.

But the moment is also special for the teams that didn’t win that day, because they hopefully learned something from the defeat that will help them prepare for the next race – that is, if they know where and how to look.

Photo credit: bethenny.com

BrianS. McGowan, PhD, is a research scientist who has worked as a medical educator, mentor, accredited provider, and commercial supporter. McGowan is author of the forthcoming fall 2012 release of#SOCIALQI: SimpleSolutionsforImprovingYourHealthcare.

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