Hope everyone had a nice holiday season and enjoyed the Patriots beating the Jets on Sunday. I was in New York visiting my in-laws and expecting a large group of Jets fans to be watching with me, but they never showed.

It’s that time of year again, time for New Year’s Resolutions. As a business owner, I always set up goals for the coming year. I plan on making $X in gross income…I’m going to bring on X number of new clients…I’m going to replace that fire-hazard of a toaster over with a new model. (Note to my insurance agency: I’m only kidding about the fire hazard. The toaster oven is actually made of asbestos, so there’s nothing to worry about.)

Although I’m still putting together those types of business goals, I’m thinking back on ’04 on where we "fell down" as a company. I know exposing "warts and all" in a public blog might not be in flyte’s best interests, but I want to be upfront on how we can improve as a company.

1. No "Invoice Surprise". Don’t you hate when you get an invoice from a company and it’s a (bad) surprise? Well, it’s even more painful to send one. This past year, a few clients requested out-of-scope changes during the development process. We made the changes, letting the client know it was going to be outside the original scope and got their approval. However, in a couple cases the changes were very involved and there wasn’t a clear understanding of how much work it would take.

I’ve found that in the service industry, when material costs are generally low (people pay for your time and expertise,) there’s confusion over why certain items are so costly. I’d be interested in hearing from other service providers–be it Web-based or not–to find out what their experiences have been.

Lisa Fernandes of The Hibernia Group, a fellow entrepreneur and regular lunch pal, suggested that I write up a special addendum with a set estimate and ask the client to sign off on it. She does this and requires the client to fax it back to her. As the 2-D Guinness guy says, "Brilliant."

This way there’s no surprise when the final bill comes. And so much of business is about client expectations. The only surprises should be good ones, like the mugs we send once the site is launched. (Oops, did I just say that out loud?)

More resolutions tomorrow, if I think of any.

Rich Brooks
He Says He Wants a Resolution