New QSS Website

After several weeks of work, the new Quality Sourcing Solutions website is up.  Check it out and let me know how it looks.  This is one of the growing pains that I anticipated.  As our little company grew, and reached more people, it became apparent that we needed to put on a more professional image.

The folks at NetSmartz did a great job.  I may also use them for some other ideas that I’m working on.  In short, I would recommend them for any of your website design, e-commerce, or SEO needs.

Go check the new site out!  I’d love to hear comments.

The Buck Stops Here

There’s an interesting shift that happens when you run your own company — there’s nobody to blame.  In the past, I’ve always tried to take responsibility, to present problems that I see, but also solutions.  There have certainly been times that I have just ranted, bitched, and blamed (sorry to all of my past supervisors).

Now, if I don’t make a sale, it’s because I screwed it up.  If my advertising isn’t working, it’s because I wrote bad copy, or placed it wrong.  I’m not saying that I expect to be perfect in everything, but that if something isn’t working, I’ve only got myself to blame.  That seems scary some days.  Most days, however, I’m completely ok with it.  The situation definitely motivates me to improve my game in every way, and that after all, is a good investment in myself no matter what happens.

CQA Certification

I just got the news from the American Society for Quality.  I’m now a Certified Quality Auditor.  As I’d mentioned before, I’ve done many audits, but had never become certified.  The course I took last week was great, and this is a big deal for QSS.  While I don’t think certifications are worth much in and of themselves (I see far too many idiots with lots of initials after their names), this just improves the credibility of my little company, and hopefully will help me build trust with our clients.

Trip to Atlanta

Just got home from a business trip to Atlanta.  It’s always interesting to travel, and I love doing it, but it’s also nice to be home.  As the chief cook and bottle washer of QSS, it’s hard to move around too much, there’s just too much going on.

I’m always looking for ways to improve the value of the service QSS provides.  One of our most popular service offerings is company audits.  We go in and review a company’s quality management system from top to bottom.  Our mission is to help our clients manage risk.  By knowing the weak points of their vendors, they can make better decisions.  I attended a course to become a Certified Quality Auditor and then took the certification exam on Saturday morning.  I’ve audited many companies (I’m guessing 50 or so), but had never become certified.  I learned a bit, and refreshed my memory on much more.  All in all, a good experience.  Results of the exam to be posted when I get them, but I’m fairly confident I did well.

If you’re traveling to Atlanta any time soon, here’s what I did to save money and get around.  My class and exam were at the Atlanta Sheridan, downtown.  As with hotels in most major metro areas, this hotel was a bit expensive (don’t recall the exact rate — $200 or so a night?).  Anyway, I opted to use a combination of Best Western Airport East, which when combined with a Travelocity-booked airfare, got my total flight and hotel costs to about $600 for the whole week.  Instead of using expensive taxis, I used the Atlanta subway system (MARTA).  It cost me $12.50 for a 4-day unlimited pass.  The system was clean, fast, and convenient.  The Best Western Hotel was friendly, inexpensive, and clean.  My only problem was that the internet service was spotty — on and off at random and frustrating intervals.  For a long stay, it was frustrating having communication difficulties, but nothing a quick MARTA ride to the nearest Starbucks didn’t fix!

A solid trip all around — didn’t spend too much, learned something, met some potential business contacts, and likely got certifed as a CQA.  Made it home in time for dinner on Saturday with the family.  You can’t look for much more than that!

Starting a Professional Services Firm

My major web advertising is still off!  This is driving me nuts, as I watch the slow trickle of visits to my site.  At this point in the game, my website is still my primary advertising tool.

 I took a pause this morning to read some articles about managing a small professional services firm and found this from the Denver Business Journal:

  http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2006/07/31/smallb5.html.

It’s a bit of motivation about a PR expert who started and grew a professional services firm from his basement.  Ok, the article isn’t exactly riviting, but the story behind it is encouraging.  One point that is made is that in the corporate world, the usual priorities are 1) Profit, 2) Customers, and 3) Employees.  Sound about right?  It does from my experience.

I know folks like Sir Richard Branson always stress that happy employees are their first priority.  Judging by the insane success of the Virgin Group, it seems to work.