The Best Black Swan Lesson for Small Businesses

Like most of you, I've read Nassim Taleb's "The Black Swan." Liked it. The theory that surprise events are rationalized by hindsight is great stuff.

Can't apply the black swan premise to my business, though. (Can you?)

But I have learned something from Nassim I can apply:

Nassim is one focused guy. He doesn't do interviews, as my fellow BNET blogger Herb Schaffner points out -- especially not to comment on black swan events like a devastating tsunami and nukes crisis. He won't give career advice or share lists of books he likes or agree to read cool papers you've written. He's successful because he sticks to his knitting.

That's the best lesson I've learned from the black swan and Nassim: To be successful, we should all stick to our knitting.

When you run a business it's easy to get sidetracked by queries and requests and, well, stuff. It's also easy to rationalize spending time on that stuff: After all, today's casual questions could someday result in tomorrow's business; networking is incredibly important and you never know when even the most remote connection could pay off; building a tribe (whatever that means, apologies to Seth Godin et al) is critical in today's business world; and being nice is its own reward. (Definitely agree with the last one.)

But getting sidetracked is a killer in a small business. So let's look at one example of how to stay focused. (Keep in mind you can apply the black swan focus approach to just about any business situation.)

Here's my black swan approach to prioritizing and handling email:

Priority 1: People currently paying me. When a current client emails me, I respond right away. I initiate a lot more emails to paying clients. (As a general rule, always try to initiate twice as many emails to paying clients as the number you receive.)

Priority 2: People fairly likely to pay me in the near future. Solid prospects, serious inquires... I respond quickly but try not to be a pest. Aggressive and assertive works for a lot of people; not me.

Priority 3: People who used to pay me. My percentage of repeat business runs well over 70%, so past clients get lots of attention. Plus many "old" clients are now friends. I check in occasionally, especially when I find something I think a past client can benefit from -- a great, natural way to stay in touch.

Priority 4: People who say nice things. Responding to a compliment with a "thank you" takes seconds. If you say something nice, you'll hear back from me.

Priority 5: People who say not-so-nice things. You'll also hear from me pretty quickly, but sometimes it takes longer because I try to respond thoughtfully. One, I'm not always right, two, a little back and forth is always fun. If you take the time to write I'll take the time to respond.

Priority 6: People who ask good questions. I like to help people when I can. Almost never do those exchanges result in actual business, but that's okay. I answer when I've run out of steam for "real" work or when I'm watching sports. (Laptops weren't invented for business travel; laptops were invented so we can sit on the couch and watch sports while writing emails and rationalize we're still being productive.)

Priority 7: People who want to meet my clients. The nature of my work means I get to collaborate with great people. I can't hook you up with them, but I will let you know I can't hook you up with them.

Priority 8: Nassim Taleb. If he asks me for an interview, I'll respond, in the nicest possible way, that I think and write books for a living ... so I must respectfully decline.

Photo courtesy flickr user Lip Kee, CC 2.0