Are you in complete control of your destiny? Or in control of it as much as you possibly can be? By asking these I am not trying to cause panic or confusion! Rather I am engaging a conversation about choices we make on a day-to-day basis.

The catalyst for this thought topic was issues I have recently encountered with various vendors, both in my business and personal life. In some cases they failed to deliver products or services they were obligated to. Other times it was their mere responses or actions that caused me concern they may fail or flounder in delivery. As a result, not only did I get an uneasy feeling, but I then needed to devote time to thinking through the scenario and defining a strategy to react to it.

On the positive side, we sometimes make decisions knowing they are in the best interest in the short term, and eventually may make moves that are best in the long term. One example is outsourcing. If we do not have the capital or human bandwidth to take on something ourselves, we may outsource all or part of the task to a person or company. This can allow us to take on, say, a new client and offer the services now that we eventually will take on ourselves and continue in the offering.

Good or bad, we need to have an understanding of these situations, which can be considered our destiny. Rather than dropping everything I have planned to do so I am tackling this issue methodically. In evaluating contracts and relationships, I am looking at what I have, what alternatives there are, and how I would be able to make a switch. Taking it a level further, I am looking at the cost of making the switch, and at what point it makes sense to do so. Some of these changes are straightforward and others are rather complex, however it is a necessity to plan for these in advance. Going forward, I will keep this in mind as I make business and personal decisions.

Like any choice we make, sometimes we make it despite potential risks involved, especially if our choice is to do something or not do it at all. As I think about these or face such decisions, look for my reactions here at The Hot Iron.

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For several months now, selected blog posts from this blog, The Hot Iron, have been republished on the Business blog of Ashworth University. It features posts from its students, faculty and people around the globe in various disciplines. I was honored to be asked to be included as a guest writer. Reading the blog on a regular basis, I am among a company of excellent thinkers and writers.

One of my recent posts on choices made at Toscanini’s Ice Cream in Cambridge, MA was posted on the blog this week. They made a slight change to the title, and it reads, “Master Entrepreneur Mike Maddaloni Asks: Should Entrepreneurs Reach Out To Their Customers For Help?” My initial reaction – wow!

Thanks to the people at Ashworth for this great compliment. I have often said everyday I learn something new about running a business – some things are better than others. As this is a on-going venture, it truly is a journey, and I consider these kind words a great signpost along this journey.

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I just got word from Tim Courtney the next Silicon Prairie Social will be held on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at Mullen’s Bar and Grill in Lisle, IL.

This is the next in what has turned out to be a successful series of quality tech networking event for the western suburbs of Chicago. The event is free, though you must register, and registration is now open. Check out the Web site for full details.

For those in the tech community in the burbs, it is a must attend, and as well for those of us in the city - as we are all part of the greater Chicagoland tech community.

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After I reviewed Joffrey’s Coffee a few weeks back, I was contacted by the folks at Jelk’s Coffee who offered me a sample of their coffee. As my demand for coffee has not changed, and I am always up for trying new things, I took them up on their offer.

As I mentioned I like stronger coffees, they sent me a whole pound of their Louisiana Blend. It is described on their Web site as their “house blend with a twist-darker roasted so this spicy tasting beverage is a true connoisseurs’ coffee.” As I would never say I have a delicate palate (ask my wife) a coffee has to be over the top with flavor for me to consider it spicy. So I put it to the test, and I had enough of the pre-ground coffee to load up my Cuisinart Grind and Brew for a week.

Verdict – I liked it. It had a bold taste but overly strong or bitter. It has a smooth finish and no aftertaste, a bad byproduct of some of the stronger coffees I have had. It also has sufficient caffeine and kept me running through the week!

Jelk’s has a whole line of traditional roasts and flavored coffees, as well as Southern-style sauces and all kinds of food products and accessories. Thanks to the folks at Jelk’s for a week of tasty fuel!

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MyWay.com, or MyWay for short, is a Web-based personal portal. It was launched several years ago and later became part of Barry Diller’s Internet empire. When it was launched, it competed head-to-head with MyYahoo! The idea was MyWay would not serve pop-up advertising as MyYahoo! was starting to do. This attracted me to the service and I have used it as my home page since, even though its feature set has remained stagnant.

That set of features took a hit this week with the shutdown of its stock portfolio feature. I found out about this the hard way – I simply noticed it was gone. In its place was a Flash widget-like box, as shown below:

I looked around my MyWay page and clicked the “my portfolio” link at the top of the page. There was my list of stock tickers, with this message:

(its text - We are sorry. As of June 1st, My Way will no longer be supporting the Portfolio feature. We apologize for the inconvenience. Click here for more information about the new My Way Money page. - The My Way Team)

After clicking on the message (there was not a visible link) I got this message:

(its text - My Way is pleased to announce that we will be collaborating with Scottrade, one of the leading online brokerage firms and market research providers, on our new Money channel. Many of the features on the My Way Money page will now redirect to charts, graphs and information provided by Scottrade. As of June 1st, however, we will no longer be able to support the Portfolio feature. We are confident that our new and exciting partnership with Scottrade will provide you with convenient access to some of the most accurate, detailed and useful financial tools available on the Web. - The My Way Team)

Not knowing what to do, I tried to enter stock ticker but nothing showed up. Instead, ironically, pop-up windows with pages from Scottrade’s Web site appeared after a few minutes. One was of its home page, the other a page to look up tickers, which did not work. I was using Firefox 2 and did not try it in another browser.

That was yesterday, and today, the Flash widget is gone, and in its place is this message:

(its text - Sorry – We're experiencing technical difficulties with Scottrade Stock Watchlist. We are currently looking into it. Please check back soon.)

It’s one thing if MyWay decided to partner with Scottrade, but do it right! Inform people of the change, don’t just remove it and hope people will find a link to it (I never use any other portfolio features of MyWay). As Scottrade is guided by all kinds of SEC regulations, do I have to open a Scottrade account now? And what about a migration of my tickers, or do I have to re-enter them? I only have a few so it would not take too long, but I need to know either way.

Perhaps its time to move on and find a replacement service – maybe iGoogle or even look at MyYahoo! again. MyWay surely isn’t doing it the way I would. And how about the irony of my fortune, displayed below the widget?

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