Binary Business

Your flight to the conference leaves in a couple hours. If you don't hustle you're going to miss your flight. You grab your laptop bag and make a mad dash for the door. You dart through traffic making it to the airport just in time. Jumping out of the car you perform your best speed walker impersonation through the parking lot, continuing just short of a run. Miracuously you make it through security and arrive at the gate just as boarding begins. A sigh of relief exits your lips and you relax knowing all is well. A couple hours later you pull out the laptop as you flop onto the hotel bed.

According to the Small Business Administration 44% of small businesses fail within two years. Binary Business will be turning five this year. One of the first lessons I learned was to survive you had to run the business as cheaply and efficiently as possible. Every year I take a look at the books and look for ways to cut costs. This year I cut $360 directly, reclaimed another $9,375 in billable hours and 30 days off the average age of my receivables. I did all this by firing someone. That someone was the United States Post Office.

Email is convenient, fast, and ubiquitous. In most cases it is the perfect tool for writing to colleagues and associates. A couple issues remain. There is that pesky canned meat problem (SPAM) and then there is the security problem. Imagine the postman reading every bit of your mail before it gets delivered. Due to the way that email crosses the Internet, it is possible to intercept email, read it, alter it and even respond to it pretending to be recipient. This of course has significant repercussions for businesses such as law firms where confidentiality and integrity are essential.