This past January, I spent 5 days in CA at TNNA‘s Winter Market, answering lots of internet related questions and teaching a marathon of 3 hour classes about doing business online.

In the course of the show, I was asked many questions about doing business on the internet… in my classes, in the aisles, and at my booth. Often the questions are regarding how business is set up within common internet industry business models.

A common example is that most web designers handle all of the details regarding the web sites they design/develop, including registering the domain and providing the hosting. From the designer/developer’s point of view, this business model is very attractive and a good money producer.

However, from the point of view of a small business owner, this scenario can be fraught with many hidden dangers!

So… what do I do as a business consultant? Do I go with the flow and offer advice based on the common business models?

I always answer every question by first asking myself *What would I tell Lisa?*.

Lisa is my BF/Cousin. She is a single mom with 2 daughters in college and no financial help other than from her own business.

Lisa was the inspiration for my Disaster-Proof Your Online Business Survival Guide and Workbook.

She called me at midnight (my time) to say that she didn’t have access to her web site to change the registration for an offline workshop. Her workshops are the financial backbone of her business, so this was a MAJOR business crisis!

As it turned out, we were able to get the issues resolved… after several nail-biting hours! Lisa’s web developer had sent Lisa the important info when she changed web hosts, so SHE had acted responsibly. Lisa had carefully kept the email that was sent, even though she wasn’t sure exactly what it all meant, so SHE had acted responsibly.

The problems had arisen because Lisa had not realized the importance of being the person controlling the information, decision-making, and action-taking concerning her web site.

Many times, the standard internet industry business practices are helpful to time stressed business owners, but they can sometimes result in catastrophic problems further down the road. As I spend more and more time answering questions in my consulting and coaching business — I find myself returning to the criteria– *What Would I Tell Lisa*.

I try always to answer the questions by explaining what industry standards may be, and what the long term implications are. If I feel that such an action might put a small business’s Internet interests at risk, I explain in detail why I think that, and offer practical suggestions for minimizing the risk.

Alway, in the back of my mind, I hear Lisa’s voice quavering on the phone, *Tink, I think I have a problem…* and I answer accordingly!

Sharing the Road to Success!

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