Bill French on cow bells and his new Mac notebook computer

Bill French of MyST Technology fame is speaking this evening at the 2007 EntConnect conference about some issues he has encountered in his business and also showing off his new Mac notebook computer.

The main subject of Bill's presentation was "Selling What You Have" and the need to be willing to "Say No" to business opportunities that simply aren't consistent with your stated business aim. He says that MyST sells "cow bells" and doesn't sell "church bells" or "jingle bells" or any other kind of bell or coat rack or whatever.

He gave an example of a new Blogsite that has yet to go live and has cost MyST much more effort than they have gotten paid for their work.

He also gave an example of a projects which brought in significant revenue but required only a minimal amount of effort. It was a great "fit" for their service.

He used the term "fitness of purpose" to describe matching the customer business needs and you business interests and actual capabilities.

The bottom line is that you have to be willing to walk away from business which is not a "good fit."

He also mentioned the need to define what "done" really means. Otherwise, projects can drag on and not be worth the effort.

He's having a lot of fun with his new Mac notebook computer with all its fancy features, but the PC is still important to his business.

-- Jack Krupansky