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Are You Smarter Than a Smart Grid?

I was reading this article in the Denver Post today when I realized that the next large source of consumer behavior-related data may not be Facebook or any other social networking site…heck, it might not even be sourced directly from the Internet!  Judging from the fact that the “smart grid” is supposed to be rolled out to 52 million people by 2015, the next source of data that marketers may very well be trying to get about you and I may be obtained by determining the patterns and type of electricity we use on a daily basis.

If companies were able to get their hands on this data they could apparently not only determine how many loads of laundry you do each week, but they could also figure out what kind of TV you own, how many times you shower and how many people are in your household!  I never really thought about it this way, but the way we use electricity can tell a lot about a person and an entire family.  Just think how powerful this data would be to consumer goods companies that could market certain products to people based on this information!

Another use for this data is law enforcement…this electrical data could point police to homes that are using certain lights to grow marijuana in their basements or to other criminals who use certain power-consuming equipment to make methamphetamine.

To nobody’s surprise Microsoft and Google are already all over the management of this smart grid data.  Microsoft’s Hohmproduct and Google’s PowerMeter application are already being used by the 200,000 early adopters of the smart grid being tested in Boulder, Colorado, that now monitor their electrical consumption online using these tools.

What could your business do if you had access to this data?

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SurePayroll's Michael Alter Talks Small Business & Online Payroll Services

In today’s KikScore blog interview, for the first time we are not profiling an actual small business.  Instead, to change up the pace for the community, we are profiling a company that small businesses rely on every day to perform a critical function – payroll.  As we do with many of our interviewees, we came across SurePayroll on Twitter and they graciously agreed to give us some insight into who they are, what makes them tick and also provide some fabulous guidance to the small business community.  Today’s interview is with Michael Alter, President of  SurePayroll.

1. Tell us about SurePayroll and who you focus on serving?

As the online alternative to ADP® and Paychex®, we’re dedicated to providing a simple, convenient and accurate online payroll service at a price small business owners can afford. Tens of thousands of small business owners across the U.S. rely on us to process payroll on demand, in as few as 2 minutes. We also offer efficient small business solutions for managing 401(k) plans, health insurance, workers’ compensation, HR compliance and employee screening. Our combination of online payroll service teamed with a small business focus has garnered recognition from PC Magazine, Inc. 500, Accounting Today, the American Business Awards and many others.

2. How did you get the idea for SurePayroll?

In the late 1990s, Chicagoland entrepreneur Scott Wald was running one of many successful small businesses and hated all the time he wasted faxing in payroll then rectifying the inevitable payroll goofs. He thought, “I should be able to do this online — and I bet I’m not the only small business owner thinking the same thing.” Because Scott’s the type of person who turns such thoughts into realities, he assembled a small team to make his idea a thriving business. He asked me to join him in this new venture, and I left my position with McKinsey & Co. We hit the scene in early 2000 with a staff of 10 in a small office in Highland Park, IL.

3. If you had 2 lessons learned from starting SurePayroll that you could pass on to others, what are those?

First Lesson: The last thing a small business owner needs is something that takes time. If you’re in business to help small business, your product is probably designed to save your clients money, but so does every other product like yours. Ensuring it also saves small business owners time is the emotional jolt that pushes them to buy — most sales aren’t closed on a logical rationale alone. Once you’ve saved them time, you need to own their worries. For example, SurePayroll tackles the most time-consuming aspect of payroll: paying and filing all federal, state and local payroll taxes. But this aspect is also the most difficult for most small businesses, and many who run payroll themselves incur frequent penalties from the IRS and other agencies. So we handle everything related to payroll taxes. If our clients receive notices from the IRS or other tax agencies, we’ll work directly with the agency on the client’s behalf. And if we make an error, we pay the fine.

Second Lesson: Never think what you’re doing today is what you’ll be doing 10 years from today. Markets change and products evolve. Learn to adapt quickly. While we’re still an online payroll company, we see the office moving from the computer to the smart phone. We’ve created a Mobile Payroll app for the iPhone® to keep up with our customers — and attract new ones.

4. Where will SurePayroll focus most of its energy in 2010?

The end of the twentieth century saw a massive expansion of the home office, and twenty-first century is greeting us with the burgeoning mobile office. When small business owners can keep their businesses running anywhere, anytime without computer access, they can spend more time closing deals and keeping clients happy. We started planning for 2010 a bit early with the launch of our Mobile Payroll app for the iPhone® in late 2009.

As the only company with a payroll app, we’re here to blaze the mobile payroll trail. This year we’re developing and launching an iPhone app for our customers’ employees to access their pay stubs and records. Later this year we’ll launch a payroll app for the Droid®, providing customers on two of America’s most popular wireless networks access to payroll from their smart phones. And, of course, all of our mobile apps are free to customers.

5. What do you see as 2 new trends in small business for 2010?

We are quickly reaching the tipping point when it comes to expectations that all things capable on a PC should also be capable on a mobile device.  More and more business applications continue to be built for smartphones, and more and more business owners consider the smart phones an essential business tool. Whereas most people rely on their iPhone, Blackberry or Droid to check and respond to email, smartphones will soon be a standard business tool for business owners and employees to conduct nearly all business functions.

Additionally, business owners will continue to see the value of Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to enhance productivity. More business owners will turn to hosted software solutions that free them from the responsibility and the cost of updating, maintaining and securing and traditional software solutions — and most importantly — free them from having to be in the office, at a PC to use the software.

6. If SurePayroll could put together a top 5 list related to your business, your industry, your customers or anything else what would that top five list be and what would be on it?

If we could create a top-five list for our industry, it would be the top five benefits of outsourcing payroll.

The list would go a little something like this:

A. Avoiding IRS Penalties. It is estimated that 40% of small businesses pay an average penalty of $845 per year for late or incorrect filings. We take responsibility for all IRS penalties that are the result of our error.

B. Reducing Costs. Our research indicates that a small business of 10 employees will typically spend $2,600 per year in direct labor costs associated with payroll. We’re usually well less than half the cost of doing payroll yourself.

C. Offering Direct Deposit. Employees want direct deposit. More importantly for business owners, direct deposit eliminates time-consuming and error-prone paper handling and the need to reconcile individual payroll checks every month. Direct deposit is included with SurePayroll.

D. Leaving Technology to the Pros. Using the wrong tax tables in outdated software can result in stiff penalties. Our constantly updated technology removes those risks and keeps payroll running smoothly.

E. Ensuring Payroll Knowledge Doesn’t Walk Out the Door. If your bookkeeper or controller gets a new job, they will walk out the door with their knowledge of the payroll process and how you do it. We eliminate that business risk.

7. What guidance can you give based on your experience to help small businesses out there that are facing difficult times?

First, take some solace knowing you’re not alone. From Main Street to Wall Street, nearly everyone’s business plan required major readjustments starting as early as 2007.

Entrepreneurs are the most practical and simultaneously innovative group out there. If there is a less expensive, more efficient way to get business done, they’ll find it – and a lot faster than the big businesses that are weighed down by red tape and processes. This is true about staying in business in tough times, too.

As their workloads increased and it become evident they required more employees, many small business owners turned to contractors instead of new full-time employees. While certain stipulations apply to contract workers, if it’s a viable option, it’s worth looking into. You’ll save money on matching FICA contributions as well as other employee-paid taxes, while providing employment during tough economic times. While you’re operating on a project-by-project basis, using a contractor labor force enables you to hire on a project-by-project basis.

Now’s also a great time to save money by review your existing contracts. For example, if your workers’ compensation insurance, health insurance and 401(k) plans come from different providers, see if one company offers everything and can give you better rates. And it never hurts to call your phone company, Internet provider and consulting services to see if you can create a package deal or negotiate cheaper rates. Some of the services we’re convinced we’ll use when signing up turn out to be an expendable luxury.

8. Tell us one thing that is unique about the SurePayroll culture that you want small businesses to know?

We’re like a lot of Internet companies: casual work environment, foosball table in the break area and a relatively flat organizational structure so employees aren’t confined by an insurmountable chain of command. But unlike many of our peers, we embrace and encourage length of service. To show our appreciation for the number of years an employee invests in us, we offer an all-expenses paid trip to an exotic locale (like Mexico) for our employees after every five years of service — we even let each qualifying employee bring a guest. A good number of our employees will soon be eligible for their second “5-year trip.” Quite a statement for a company that opened just 10 years ago.

9. If SurePayroll had a theme song, what would it be and why?

Perhaps No Doubt’s “Simple Kind of Life” because that’s exactly what we provide our customers — at least as far as payroll is concerned.

10. Do you have any parting thoughts for our readers and the small business community?

Kudos to you for your resiliency during this tough economy. You’ve probably had to adapt your business to survive. The upside of doing this is that you’re learning adaptability, like I mentioned earlier. Once the economy hits and upswing, the adaptability you’ve learned will prove invaluable in the new economy.

If you have questions for SurePayroll, please leave them in our comments section.

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Diary of a Startup: A Few Lessons Learned For Entrepreneurs

On a day that I am bewildered by my Cleveland Cavaliers and their absolutely horrendous performance last night, I am a little reflective.  After all, us Cleveland fans likely have just watched Lebron James‘ last home game in Cleveland as a Cavalier.  When he officially leaves (I truly hope he doesnt but I am a Cleveland fan and we are used to such let downs), maybe I will do a post on how startups and small business can learn from the Cavs/Lebron breakup.  Until then, here is another installment in our continued feature at KikScore called Diary of a Startup.

This one is a quick summary of a few lessons learned from our experience and from other folks I have talked to about their startup experiences:

1. Bandwidth Limitations. No I am not talking about your broadband cable access.  Instead, bandwidth as in you and your team’s ability to keep iterating and making improvements while also juggling all of the operational and marketing aspects of a startup.These types of bandwidth and resource constraints are especially present in nights and weekend startups.  One of the ways we have dealt with the bandwidth issue is continually working to prioritize items/tasks/enhancements/issues as a team.  But as you prioritize do not forget about that enhancement that you talked about doing three months ago that may have been de-prioritized along the way! Also as needed, it is key that contractors, freelancers and outsourced resources get used to increase overall bandwidth for the startup. But remember these tips and tools when using offshore resources.

2. Manage Expectations – As with anything in life, it is important to manage everyone’s expectations including yourself.  The reason why?  Nearly everything you do at a start-up from getting going, getting something developed, partnership discussions, getting funding, optimizing your product and your homepage, takes longer than you think.  That does not mean you should sit back, because you still need to push and push hard.  However, you just need to prepare yourself, your team, customers etc and appropriately manage timelines and understand that sometimes things beyond your control come in that may delay things.  The trick is not to get upset, but figure out how to keep things on track and moving forward.

3. Continually Get Feedback – This is an underestimated one, but has been incredibly valuable to us.  Talk to everyone about your product, your business model and especially have customers (and potential customers) give you feedback.  This is so helpful in giving you and your team a new perspective and has also, at least with us, given us some great new ideas for channels for KikScore.  Here is a an excellent post at the Untemplater Site by Jun Loayza on a feedback plan for startups. Another related note is take the negative feedback in stride.  Frankly, some of the negative or constructive feedback is more valuable than the other feedback.  And please be careful not to just dismiss someone’s feedback, especially customer feedback because you think you know better or you say, “What does that person know?”  That is a sure ticket to failure.

4. Put That Feedback in Perspective – So you first need to get feedback, but then what do you do with it?  The trick is not to act on every piece of your feedback that you receive.  That will set you off in 1,000 different directions and be counterproductive.  Also you do not want to just dismiss feedback.  This is where it is important for the team to approach the feedback from three very basic perspectives: a) common sense; b) what will make the customer experience better; and c) what is “doable” and actionable based on resources, priorities and strategy. Here is a recent post on how we acted on customer feedback.

5. Social Media is Not the Marketing  Savior  – Don’t get me wrong, using social media is a low cost way to build brand awareness for your startup, get leads, make connections to though leaders, get great introductions to partners, manage your startup’s reputation and respond to customer issues.  Frankly doing all of this via Twitter, Facebook, a blog and other social media channels is a must these days for most startups.  BUT, doing all that does not guarantee success.  Frankly, these days doing all of things and having a social media strategy allows you just to play in the game.  In order to win and really succeed as a startup (and be a repeat MVP like Lebron James), you need to give your customers a great customer experience, make your product easy to use and help your customers solve a problem that they have.  As my friend Shashi B has told me before, no amount of marketing, social media or marketing campaigns will protect your company from a sucky product! Make your product great, make sure your customers are happy and that they evangalize your product and the marketing then comes a lot easier.  That actually will make the social media marketing easier as Zappos has demonstrated. In fact, here is a good post on the story of Zappos with an excellent and informative powerpoint deck that is worth a read.

Let us know if you have any lessons learned from your startup or small business.

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Fringe and Small Business

I must admit, I am a Fringe junkie… the X-Files of the new generation… if you are a follower of Fringe, or Fringe science one can see how an obsession with a theory (or a job) can overtake you.

Let’s take the Walter Bishop of ‘our world’ vs. the Walter Bishop of ‘the other side’… why is it that he within our world is attempting recovery from insanity whilst the ‘other’ Walter seems to have done quite well for himself and been spared the asylum visit?  One could theorize that our world Walter became so obsessed with not only bringing Peter across but also with protecting him all these years and it eventually overtook his entire psyche.  Where the other side Walter has been focused on finding Peter, he seems (at least in our brief introduction to him last week) to be well put together, so perhaps not as ‘obsessed’ with this mission or at least capable of keeping the sanity surrounding his zeal.  An entrepreneur can easily be led astray down one Walter path vs. the other… so how do you keep the sanity while trying to get your business off the ground?

Here are some key areas that have helped us at KikScore:

Organization and Time Management

Know your market/customer  and react to feedback

Delegate – If you have a team, you can’t do it all yourself

Set clear goals for all team members and communicate

Keep track of lessons learned

What are your Fringe theories?  And how do you keep your sanity in your start-up?

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KikScore Interviews Zadyball Creator Alayna Slinker

While recently shopping for a unique baby gift for a friend’s newest arrival, I stumbled upon Zadyball – a unique toy that combines the things babies love best: putting soft stuff in their mouth and having a snuggle buddy.  If only I’d found this when my daughter was that small!  Zadyball is a small company that is doing wonders for moms and babies around the globe!  We are very thankful that Alayna took the time to  share the exciting Zadyball journey with KikScore.

1. Tell us about Zadyball and who you focus on serving?

A Zadyball is a handcrafted toy designed with babies in mind. They are soft to hold and cuddle, and have lots of knotted fabric strings to grab and rub. Zadyball is easy for young babies to hold on to, and it quickly becomes a favorite!

I made the first Zadyball in 2004 when my son was about 6 months old. He had a stuffed animal with a knotted string for a tail. He loved playing with the string, and would rub it to help him fall asleep. Since the string was his favorite part of the toy, I decided to make a toy for him with lots of strings for him to play with.

He loved that ball SO much and took it with him everywhere we went, and refused to sleep without it.

We got comments on it all the time, usually to the effect of “what is that thing?” And, after I explained it, many people said “hey, my kid would like that too!” So, I decided to start making them for my friends and giving them as gifts at baby showers. Other shower guests started offering to buy them from me, and I eventually started selling them online and in small stores all over the world.

Our focus is to bring a little bit of happiness to the lives of babies and their families.

2. Where will Zadyball focus most of its energy in 2010?

This year, I’ve been focusing on giving the website a bit of a “facelift”. I’ve been working on improving the product images as well as optimizing the website for search engines.

3. If you had 2 lessons learned from your business that you could pass on to others about having an online business, what are those?

One thing that I’ve learned is that quality pictures are CRUCIAL to online sales. In a “real” store, people can use all five senses to view a product. They can pick it up, shake it, feel it, throw it, even smell and taste it if they really want to. But, the only sense that is available when buying online is SIGHT. So, what they are seeing had better look good!

The second thing I’ve learned is how important it is to be unique. When shopping online, buyers can view products from all over the world side-by-side. You have to be one of a kind in order to stand out.

4. If your business/store could be any movie or movie character, what movie/movie character would it be and why?

Well, I think that to run my business, I’d like to be like Elasta-Girl from The Incredibles. I have to be flexible in order to make everything work. And I couldn’t do it without my family by my side – with all their super strengths!

5. If Zadyball could have a dream spokesperson for your company who would it be and why?

A fabulously stylish mom who wants to have fantastic toys for her children.  Someone who people can relate to.

6. How do the folks at Zadyball let loose after a busy day working?

In addition to running my business, I am a full-time mother of three, so I don’t have a lot of down-time.  Most often, my work is done while they are sleeping. But, my best times are spent just hanging out with my favorite people – my little munchkins, and my wonderful husband.

7. Do you have any parting thoughts for our readers and the small business community?

Never become complaisant. Always be on the lookout for ways to improve your business and your product. And listen to your customers – they are the best source for great ideas!

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Please pass the salt and pepper…oh, and don't forget my personal credit card processing machine!

A few weeks ago I was eating at a local sushi restaurant here in Denver (Banzai Sushi – highly recommend it) when something happened that has never happened to me in a restaurant before.  After my wife and I finished eating our delicious dinner we asked our waiter for the check and instead of bringing us a money holder with the bill in it, he reached into his back pocket and placed a miniature credit card processing machine on our table with a paper copy of the bill and left.

After my wife and I stared at it and then each other for a second we read the very basic steps on the machine and in seconds swiped our own credit card, printed the bill, signed the check, and left.  What a great idea!  I am not sure why or how this idea was formulated at this specific restaurant but I imagine that it started with some fraud complaints of some type from customers.  I thought that this solution was a great opportunity for the restaurant to not only resolve the possible fraud issues around customers giving a perfect stranger their credit card but it also saved time.  Other than the obvious additional expense of the credit card readers that would be needed I am not sure why more restaurants have not started implementing this new process.

I did a little research online and also found out that a new device called the SmartSwipe is becoming more popular recently as well.  This at-home credit card swiping machine that connects to your home computer through the USB port takes another part out of the fraud equation when shopping online, a virus on your computer, by immediately encrypting your credit card information and sending it to the merchant securely.  This device makes it impossible for trojan horse-type viruses that may unknowingly reside on your home computer to secretly grab your credit card information while you type it into your browser.  I think this is another great invention that speeds up credit card transactions and makes them less liable to fraud.

Have you noticed any great new inventions out there that have reduced fraud while shopping online or in stores?  (besides KikScore of course)

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Shashi B, the Social Media Swami Talks & Small Businesses Should Listen

The Social Media Swami, Shashi Bellamkonda from Network Solutions, joined the Small Business Hour Talk Show to discuss  how small businesses can best use social media to help their businesses. During the interview he also discussed the trust level small businesses hold with the public, whether performance reviews are useful, and much more.  If you have never heard Shashi Bellamkonda, you really should listen.  He is one of the most genuine, thoughtful and practical speakers that is out there on small business, social media and marketing.  You may recall, Shashi was the one of the main speakers at our Social Commerce Camp DC back in February this year.  Look out because the next Social Commerce Camp is coming to the Denver/Boulder area later this year!

Click HERE to listen to the interview of Shashi. There is 20 minute intro discussion at the beginning of the recording and Shashi’s highly useful interview is after that.

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The Awe Inspiring Essence of Creativity

I stumbled upon an interesting and motivating quote a couple weeks ago:
Life isn’t about finding yourself, life is about creating yourself — George Bernard Shaw

This got me thinking about how creativity comes into play in defining not only who we are, but how the world sees us.  My daughter, who turned 2 in December, has started mastering marker to paper, and paint brush to easel.  My husband and I praise her creative wonders and display many of her designs about our home.

As I hung two of her recent ‘dinosaur’ masterpieces on my office wall today (one scanned above), I am overwhelmed with not only a sense of pride but an inspiration to be more creative myself.   To force more creativity in my daily doings and namely in my business activities (both day job and KikScore).  To remind myself that a little bit of color and imagination can be awe inspiring.

In order to maintain a competitive edge in business, you must have innovation that not only keeps your customers interested and coming back, but ensures they are shouting out accolades about your business with their friends and beyond.  Since teamwork is a key element to business success, you need to keep your team motivated and the creative juices flowing.

We continuously encourage creativity and individuality in our children… and we need to carry that forth and foster it in the work place environment as well.

Whether you have a start-up or a mature business, how do you encourage creativity?  Get out those markers and a blank palette… what can you create?

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Lessons Learned for Small Business from Sandra Bullock's Heartbreak

So I have to admit, I am more of a fan of Sandra Bullock because of my wife.  She loves Sandra Bullock, especially in that movie Hope Floats. Bullock does seem very down to Earth and does not have the outward characteristics of your typical Hollywood diva.  On the other hand, I thought I liked Jesse James, especially after his appearance in Celebrity Apprentice last year.  Again he seemed like a fairly straight-talking guy that had learned from his past mistakes. Oh but was I wrong.  Actually, a lot of people were wrong.  But there were warning signs all over the place.  And there was plenty of information that was available that could have predicted Sandra Bullock’s and Jesse James’ relationship collapse.

Small businesses can learn from Bullock’s heartbreak.  The Bullock/James fall-out can teach small businesses a lot about picking marketing/integration partners, selecting vendors or freelancers to support your business, using consultants to advise on company strategy and using website designers or software developers for your business. Here are a few lessons:

1. Past Track Record Does Predict Future Performance: So it was apparently known that Jesse James had some issues in his past with staying faithful in relationships.   So Sandra Bullock likely had information that could have predicted James’ infidelity and she probably decided to disregard it. Small businesses cannot afford to ignore information about a partner, vendor, consultant etc. that they have had some past issues in an area such as meeting timelines, deliverables or performing sub-standard work.  Small businesses in fact need to be meticulous in seeking out information about a company’s previous track record because that may be one of the most reliable predictors of whether a vendor/partner will live up to expectations.

2. Do Research & Diligence Upfront: Again the information about James was available for Sandra Bullock. In fact, she probably could have conducted even more diligence on Jesse James’ past.  In this day, with internet resources that are available and sites that provide background information on businesses like Kikscore, there is no excuse for a small business not to conduct exhaustive background research on potential partners, vendors, consultants or even employees that may be hired.  The information is readily-available, small businesses just need to take the time to conduct the research and due diligence on the front end of an engagement.  If a small business takes the time to conduct up front research and diligence, it can really help avoid bad decisions, waste of time and resources, and even potential damage to the brand by avoiding certain businesses all together.

3. Monitor During Relationship/Engagement/Partnership: It now has been reported that Jesse James did most of his “running around” when Bullock was filming her Oscar-award winning movie The Blind Side.  This was all done behind her back when she was busy trying to make a living.  Small businesses can learn from this and arm themselves with tools like Google Alerts to monitor and track what other people are saying about companies that they do businesses with during an engagement.  That way, if there is a blog post about an angry customer saying that a vendor that you are using too is having money issue, you can be on notice and attempt to proactively verify that information.  Those alerts are also great for finding out news reports about companies. Using tools like Google Alerts is a way you can be ahead of the game and avoid finding out this information when it is too late.

4. Quickly Act to Cut Losses: Bullock moved  quickly when she found out about James’ behavior and moved out of her house.  When small businesses find out damaging information or at least information that may worry them about a vendor, partner or contractor that you are currently in business with, you must act quickly.  If you feel that the information puts your business at risk, take steps quickly to avoid further damage and if that means ending a partnership or contract that is what you should consider doing. The alternative is staying in a doomed relationship and we all know where that ends up! Check out Toilet Paper Entrepreneur’s 81 Strategies to Fix a Bad, Falling Apart Business Partnership as a way to gauge whether you should stay in a business relationship.

5. Preserve Your Brand: Along the lines of cutting your losses, Bullock’s brand has actually held up during this heartbreaking episode with James.  She took the high road through the split and did not fall into the trap of being dragged down into the gutter, even when crazy allegations were leveled against her. Instead, she responded in a dignified manner, surrounded herself by her family and did not do anything that was out of her regular behavior.  For a small business that gets burned by a partner or a vendor, instead of getting dragged down by someone else’s behavior, try to act in a way that you want that reflects your brand and not the ugliness that may arise from your partner/vendor’s conduct or statements.

6. Trust Your Gut: In the end, if you ask Bullock I wonder if she had a suspicion early on about James’ behavior toward women, but ignored her gut instinct.  Sadly, if she did I am sure she probably wishes now that she listened to her gut.  For small businesses, it is important to have that BS meter and if you detect even the slightest issue with  potential business partner/vendor you should move on.  There are just too many other options out there for partners, vendors, etc that you will be better off going with someone else rather than someone you have doubts about.  Remember, if you have to convince yourself that you need to do business with someone and you should just ignore some of those “red flag” (even if they are small), stop right there and protect yourself by moving on to the next business.  Sometime the business partner that you say “No” to, is more valuable for your business than the ones you say “Yes!” to.

Please tell us if you see any more lessons learned from the Bullock/James split.

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How the NFL Draft Can Help You With Online Trust

This is one of my favorite times of the year for sports.  The time of hope, promise and turnaround.  That means it is time for the NFL Draft!  My team, the Cleveland Browns, always enters this part of the year and the draft with hopes of getting the amazing college football prospect that will revitalize the team, give us a winning season for once and hopefully (yeah right) a trip to the Super Bowl.  The issue is that you never know if a player your team picks in the draft is going to turn out like you hoped and will deliver on all of the expectations you have built up for them or turn out to be a bust.  Or worse yet, that player ends up breaking the law and not only is he a bust, but he then becomes a shame to the team and the city.  In many ways this is similar to the issue of figuring out who you can trust online for doing business and for online shopping.

In the NFL Draft process, the teams that do the best job are the ones that do the most diligence on the college football prospects.  These are just some of the things that NFL teams and scouts do in the diligence and research process before selecting a player in the draft:

1) Conduct extensive background checks;

2) Put players through multiple interviews and give them tests;

3) Review, analyze and dissect a player’s past performances in college games and;

4) Talk to their coaches, teachers and other experts.

That is all done before draft day and before a player is selected.  And its all done on hundreds of players.  The interesting thing is what NFL teams are looking for in college players is very  similar to what shoppers look for before buying online: 1) a track record of success; 2) good character; 3) reliability and trustworthiness; 4) the ability to deliver and meet expectations and 5) someone you can depend on and that can be your “go to” person.

All of these traits are exactly what people look for for in businesses that operate online as indications of whether you can trust that business.  The commonality between the NFL teams that put players through these tests and online shoppers is: Information!  Information is king.  It is not only having access to that information but it is also having the right information about trustworthiness and reliability to make an informed decision about buying from an online store or selecting a contractor or consultant online that you have come across online.

So next time you are out looking to buy online or select a contractor, be like an NFL scout and look for these types of information. That will help you stay safe when you are shopping online.  Also businesses that have a KikScore seal certainly help shoppers get much of this trust and reliability information.  But just make sure you end up selecting the next Tom Brady and not Ryan Leaf when you decide to do business online!

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