Confessions of a Small Business Owner

Audio Blog: 

Chris Eifert - Confessions Small Biz Owner.mp3

I’m an idiot. It didn’t take long for me to screw up in 2012. I make a lot of mistakes every year, but usually I get a few weeks under my belt before I start unraveling. This year? Three lousy working days. That’s all it took.

So what’s the big deal? A proposal faux pas. I constructed a perfect 388-word proposal — every activity perfectly outlined, absolutely appropriate for the client’s project, costs and terms detailed to the letter, deliverables outlined, timeframe defined — you name it — spot on. HOWEVER, one section lent itself to using similar verbiage from another proposal so I got lazy — the old cut and paste. Well, you know what happened from there. I created six other proposals and came back to this one. And of course, I didn’t notice a major typo from the cut and paste.

So when I’m discussing this proposal with the client on the phone, what do we talk about? My great writing style? The spot-on accuracy of the statement of work? The detailed description that makes perfectly clear what can be expected? The competitive pricing? Nope — we talk about the darn typo. And I don’t blame them. There is NOTHING worse in proposal world than careless cutting and pasting. Want to look like you don’t give a crap? Cut and paste something and forget to proof your work. It’s one of my major pet peeves, and now I’ve started 2012 as a sloppy cut and paste offender. And for good measure, I bypassed our internal proofing procedure, so I’m sure the production team would love to give me a good talking to as well.

Well, since I own the place, I doubt anyone is going to come down too hard on me. And our client was extremely gracious in bringing it to my attention without judging me. But so I can move on for the next 360 days of 2012, I need to get it off my chest. So I resolve not to be a repeat offender in 2012. No sloppy cut/pastes. No proofing bypasses. Just good, clean proposals tailored for every client. And if you’re a potential prospect or customer and you want to find out if I’m staying true to my word, try me. I’d be happy to put together a proposal.