Mail

Don't Do It Yourself

I'm puzzled by an inconsistency in Inc.'s list of bargains for businesses ["39 Great Business Bargains," June]. You recommend hiring a professional designer for your office (instead of, say, using an online planning tool like the one Ikea provides), yet you encourage business owners to use templates for their websites.

As a Web designer, I've acquired many customers that are unhappy with these tools. Often small companies will choose a template only to find a competitor has chosen the same one. Investing in a well-designed site can make a big difference in brand perception and Internet sales.

Bo Parker
principal
Bo Co. Design
Fort Worth

I read Inc. cover to cover every month. It's the best source of business information I've ever found. But as a female business owner, I was upset by a photo in the story about business bargains. It depicts a businesswoman in the process of pulling up her skirt to sit on a copy machine.

I'm sure someone at Inc. found this funny, but I can't figure out whether your inclusion of the photo was offensive to women or just plain tasteless. The hint of sexuality, the fact that we can't see her face, the disrobing of a well-dressed businesswoman, the fact that she's doing something stupid instead of something businesslike...all of these things seem out of place in a respectable business publication. Has Inc. forgotten that some of its readers are women who, for good reason, are accustomed to being taken seriously?

Mary Clark
Owner
Data Simplicity
Portland, Oregon

Howdy, Partner

Like Norm Brodsky, I also have an almost innate aversion to the concept of bringing on a partner ["Sam and Me," June]. But then Brodsky mentioned how Sam Kaplan was able to become a confidant and a counterweight, someone who could make Brodsky change his mind--even when Brodsky was sure he couldn't be persuaded.

For the first time, I'm questioning my ideas about partnerships.

Ada Polla Tray
President
Alchimie Forever
Arlington, Virginia

The Limits of MinuteClinics

Jennifer Gill's article about MinuteClinics and Take Care Health Centers left out a prime reason these business plans may not bear fruit ["The Nurse Will See You Now," June]. They depend on a labor source that will be in increasingly short supply. Enrollment in nursing schools has been down for decades.

Stephen C. Acosta
Owner
Doctors House Calls
Portland, Oregon

A Little Free Advice

I disagree with John Seiffer's comment that business coaches are necessary because "there is nowhere to learn how to build and run a company" [Mail, June]. There are strong resources for business advice that cost a lot less than a coach.

The first is the Senior Corps of Retired Executives, or Score, a nonprofit that provides ongoing advice to small-business owners for free. I've been a Score counselor for about six years. Any small-business owner can get virtually all the help he or she needs simply by asking for it.

Another valuable resource for entrepreneurs is a board of advisers or directors. With my company's board, I am never without expert, unbiased, and sometimes hard-to-take advice.

Paul Burri
President
BrandNew Industries
Santa Barbara, California

A Decentralized D.C.

I agree with Carl Schramm that the country might do well to move its capital out of Washington, D.C. ["Relocating Washington," June]. As Schramm points out, this would, among other things, provide security against terrorism, since the various government functions could be distributed across the country.

There's another reason to move the capital. The architecture of Washington, D.C., was constructed with certain processes of government in mind, stemming from those in England, that are basically anachronisms. If one reviews the functions of government, one finds that talking and debating are not core functions. What government is supposed to do is protect private property and defend the people from their enemies. The principal activities of government have extended beyond these basic purposes.

John N. Warfield
Emeritus professor
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia

The Coddling Exchange Rate

I found the table comparing the cost of firing in various countries very interesting, but it would have been more useful if you had listed what an average week's wages are in those countries ["French Twist," June]. Even though Guatemalan companies end up paying about 100 weeks of wages per employee, versus 32 weeks for French companies, Guatemala's minimum wage is only $7 per day. Can we really say Guatemalan businesses "coddle employees" more than the French?

Nancy Richards
Co-owner
Finger Lakes Farmstead Cheese Co.
Mecklenburg, New York

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