Have you ever had a meeting with someone and you left the meeting feeling like your time was completely wasted? I have, and chances are you have (or will) too.

Entrepreneurs and business minded people have a limited amount of time in the day (and in our lives in general) so it’s important that we strive to be as efficient as possible with our work time in order to maximize return and reach our goals.

Verbal communication is the most inefficient form of doing business, but it is also a necessary one. That being said, how can you determine in advance if someone is going to waste your time?

Based on first-hand experience I’ve compiled a key list of indicators to watch out for before meeting with someone :

1) You don’t know the person and they have not been introduced or referred to you by a trusted source. Be skeptical. Engage with these types of contacts first via email and then perhaps over the phone. Be willing to trust your gut; if something about them rubs you the wrong way, be willing to “cancel them out” meaning ignoring their email messages or other forms of communication.

2) The stated purpose of the meeting is vague. For instance, if you meet someone in person and they ask to have a follow-up meeting, be straightforward with them and ask why? Time is critical when you’re in start-up mode. The maximum number of seconds in a day (every day) should be devoted to productive pursuits that will grow the business.

3) He says something and then doesn’t do it. For example, if you initially meet the person at a networking event, and they say they want to have a follow-up meeting with you, but forget to follow through and schedule with you via email soon after. This is a likely indicator, even if the person corresponds with you later on, that their follow-through is lacking. That is not someone you want to talk business with. In another case, if someone you planned a meeting with misses the meeting, evaluate their excuse on a case by case basis. If you believe it is worth your time to give it another try, let them come to you and on your terms. Otherwise, forget about him or her completely. Do not waste another second thinking about it.

4) He lacks credibility and the promise of resourcefulness. If you are serious about engaging with a new contact, or if he is serious about engaging with you, run a Google search on his name. Look to see if he has a LinkedIn profile with a list of past work experience or projects he has completed. Judge people fairly based on their actions and past accomplishments. Are they educated and is this factor relevant to your meeting? How many other people are they connected to? Have other people written them references? Do you share any connections in common? Do they have a personal blog?

Ultimately, it is up to you to determine how your time is best spent. You might have meetings that are very unproductive, but highly enjoyable which might make them worth you time for that reason alone.

What other tips or indicators would you list here?

One of my current clients for Blue Sky Local

If you’ve tried to build one or more businesses, this technique may be useful to you. It may seem counter intuitive to some but it is absolutely the best way to de-risk any start-up business model, but especially web-based business models.

If I could go back and do each of my business ventures over, this is the one thing I would do differently: I would get customers on board (ready to pay or paying upfront) first.

This is because, in part, if you build the product first and sell it to customer second, you’re likely to make more mistakes since the customer (the end-user) is not engaged in the development, thus it is less likely that what is built will meet all of his or her needs. A customer who is on board and paying from the start has a vested interest in making sure your product meets his or her needs.

For example, say I was interested in launching a Groupon copy-cat website for Long Island, NY. With this business model I would talk with local business owners and get at least a few dozen of them on board. To do this I might have to prepare a little slide show presentation (but building the entire service first is NOT essential!).

Simultaneously I would tell friends, family, and strangers through various online and offline means about the concept and convince them to hand over their email address for great deals. After I’d reached a sufficient number of signups for both businesses and customers, THEN I would build the web product and launch because at that point I would know almost certainly that I would be making money right out of the gate.

What if you cannot get customers on board in advance? Then don’t build the business. It’s that simple.

There may be some skeptics out there who might reply to this by paraphrasing what Steve Jobs said, which is sometimes the customer doesn’t know what he or she wants until you build the damn thing and give it to them to try. This is true to an extent, so there will always be some sort of up front investment but it in most cases it will not require that you exceed the scope of creating some design mockups or a short power point (as in the example above).

Businesses fail because they fail to make sales. They fail to make sales because there’s no market for their product.

Sell first, not second.

It’s great to “believe in yourself,” and all that jazz, but what are some more concrete, actionable tips you can start using today to be a better decision maker for your start-up business?

1) Trust your judgment over that of others. I emphasize this especially if the advice you’re given is unsolicited. Every entrepreneur has a vision for his or her start-up. If you follow someone else’s advice you are less likely to be passionate about the execution of that vision. So trust your own judgement, even if you fail miserably. At least you’ll learn from it and you won’t be second guessing how it played out, thinking: “If only I had stuck to my guns and done what I thought was best.”

2) Learn to NOT be reactionary. I wrote an earlier post about the metaphor of the Spinning Top, which is related to this. The basic principle here is this: you’re going to be deluged with lots of ideas and suggestions from other people, inside and outside of the company. Be cautious and appropriately paced in turning your attention and resources towards implementing any of those new ideas.

3) When in doubt, defer to the numbers. The biggest reason more people don’t start businesses is because they are afraid of the “risk” that comes with the persistent, high levels of ambiguity. This is the context under which you will make decisions everyday as an entrepreneur (e.g. Why should I make this phone call rather than finish this research survey? Which is a higher priority for the company?). When you are uncomfortable with your ability to make a decision, try to evaluate the facts of the situation. Even better, check to see if there is data to counter or support your choice. This can be one of the most effective tactics for minimizing ambiguity and making better business decisions.

To review, you’re on the ground floor everyday so rate your judgement above that of others; deftly pace the reallocation of resources with regard to implmenting new ideas that come up; and finally focus on that which can be measured.