Yesterday, I grabbed lunch at a local place I frequent. There is a salad I like to get there with grilled chicken, I like it because the lettuce is fresh field greens and they make their own salad dressing from scratch. However, yesterday I was in for a disappointment.

Even though the menu said field greens, I received mostly iceberg lettuce which I can’t stand. And the salad dressing was definitely of the prepackaged variety…not from scratch. I sat there eating my salad and feeling very annoyed for not getting what I was accustomed to getting. With every bite, I got more annoyed that they charged me the same price but gave me a much lower quality product.

I know that sounds picky, but I like what I like and I frequent places that make the things I like! It also made me think about how businesses should not to go backwards on their offerings, it’s a terrible mistake even when they need to cut costs. Now, I probably won’t go back there.

I would imagine that with the prices of groceries going up along with everything else, the restaurant felt the need to cut costs. I would have preferred to pay more for my salad and get the same quality and I would’ve understood if they said they had to adjust prices because their costs are rising. I think everyone understands that right now, especially with gas prices around $4.00 per gallon.

We have Daryn Kagan highlighted as a “Roadie Profile” this month and it’s very appropriate because her new book, What’s Possible! 50 Stories of People Who Dared to Dream They Could Make a Difference is out in bookstores this month.  Her book is a collection of true stories of people who dreamed big and overcame big obstacles to achieve their goals.  She has stories of people from all walks of life plus some very inspirational entrepreneurs.  I encourage you to check it out!

I must say Daryn inspires me every day, I get a feed from her website and get my daily dose of good news.  I have opted out of television news because it’s so heavily focused on negative and sensational stories.  I prefer to watch things that inspire me and keep me moving forward rather than living in fear of what might possibly happen.  She has really accomplished a lot after leaving CNN and it’s great to see someone being successful focusing on positive things!

I’ve been in a lot of meetings lately where people cannot focus because they’re checking their blackberry every two minutes.  I was at lunch recently and the person I was with kept checking it and I finally asked, “Is there a problem?” The reply was, I want to be sure to keep my client happy.  I understand that sentiment, we all want to keep our clients happy.  But they can’t expect everyone to be at their beck and call.  It’s unfortunate, but it seems with the new technology people do expect you to respond almost immediately to their pings, emails and phone calls.

The key is setting boundaries with our clients, bosses, and associates about when we’re available and not available.  I know people who can’t sit through lunch or dinner without taking multiple calls or messages on their blackberry.   We all need some down time and time to just “be” with the people we’re with.

This week I’ve spoken with several entrepreneurs who are maxed out with work, but are unable to bring on additional people at this point financially. It’s a tough place to be! I think many of us get stuck doing the day to day stuff like delivering for our clients, which is very important…but the problem is that you have precious little time to focus on strategies and resources for taking your business to the next level.

This also leads to the topic of funding which is also a tough one for new entrepreneurs. I know this well as I’m working through this one right now. I’m working on creating a business plan that will take me to the next level and then I plan to shop for some funding. I will be keeping you posted on my progress and what I learn throughout this process.