Galt Global Review

For small business owners, the "Aughts" inspired a brace of bad habits that may prove harder to divest than General Motors' international divisions. But the sooner you get these horrid habits out of your system, the sooner you can adjust to the real opportunities awaiting all of us in the '10s.

- If you build it, they will come: It wasn't just the dot-coms that overestimated the Internet. I've encountered oodles of business owners who thought simply setting up a website would bring thousands of new customers lining up at their door. They forgot their basic math: if every business in their space gets on the Net at the same time, doing the same things, they face the same fearsome odds as before. The web doesn't create an even playing surface for all competitors -- it's a highway pointing straight toward the companies that are best at what they do.

- Wilful blindness: This is a self-inflicted wound characterized by a tendency to say, "We can get along perfectly well without ... (choose your innovation: Facebook, Twitter, colour printers, spreadsheets, profit-sharing, consultants, a sales rep in Red Deer)." Business is a blood sport, and the competition is getting tougher. You need the most precise tools and the best help possible, even if you have to go beyond your comfort level.

- Hiring mistakes: The shortage of creative and executive talent resulted in employers hiring people after (and occasionally during) a single interview. Today, with bosses more aware of the high cost of hiring mistakes, we are seeing a return to diligent resume --and reference--checking. Fortunately, some of these chores are easier than ever: investigating potential employees' activity on blogs, Facebook and Twitter provides a powerful secondary check for employers smart enough to use them.

- Low-dollar denial: So long as our loonie traded below US80¢, many Canadian companies could kid themselvesthattheywereefficient in a world-class way. This state of denial gave businesses an excuse to put off retooling, reinvesting and upgrading operations--leaving them up the creek sans paddle when the buck bounced back.

- Take a number and wait: With Asian factories supplying most of our manufactured goods and technology taking over so many services (telephone, shopping, research, education, etc.), virtually the only asset for businesses to flaunt in the next decade will be in-your-face customer service. If you don't meet clients' demands for fast, high-quality service, they'll find someone who will. (Now we are even seeing major North American marketers repatriate their call centres from overseas, recognizing that customer satisfaction is more important than minimizing costs.)

- Competing on price: Dollarama didn't become a retail superstar by competing on price -- it quashed other dollar-store competitors by stocking better merchandise and offering brighter, cleaner, better-organized stores.

- Exporting is for experts: E-commerce makes exporting possible for just about anybody; Internet marketing leaks across borders faster than water through a sponge. With the world now your marketplace, make sure your products have the specs to attract overseas customers, and institute the technological systems and logistical expertise you need to meet their needs.

- Treating customers as a mass: You prefer to be treated as individuals, and so do your customers and prospects. Re-establish your company's personality -- what it stands for, how easy you are to do business with, how you treat your clients and prospects.

- Neglecting trust: Too many companies have operated as if simple, basic trust were unnecessary. In the coming decade, it will be essential -- and burgeoning social media will ensure everyone knows whether or not your business deserves trust.

- Negativity: A lot of commentary has focused on the depressing aspects of the Aughts. We are privileged to live in a time of unremitting change. Technology, globalization, changing demographics and rising standards of living are creating innumerable opportunities for creative business leaders who understand the need for new ideas and innovative solutions to pressing business and social problems. For resourceful, optimistic entrepreneurs, the next decade could be a perfect 10.

- Rick Spence is a writer, consultant and speaker specializing in entrepreneurship. His column appears weekly in the Financial Post. He can be reached at

rick@rickspence.ca.

Material reprinted with the express permission of: "The National Post Company", a Canwest Partnership.