• Call for store hours and directions before you leave. I didn’t call before I left because I knew my iPhone would help me find the store. Big mistake. My iPhone GPS couldn’t find the address and when I called the number on the store’s site, a woman in the billing department of a doctors’ office answered. She was tired of getting another company’s calls.

• Don’t count on your GPS (or iPhone) to get you where you need to go. (See lesson #1.)

• Call the store before you leave to make sure they have what you need. When I finally found the store (I called another location for their correct address and phone) I was thrilled that they had the gift I wanted. This time I was lucky. Next time I’ll call ahead.

• Make sure the correct phone number and address are on your site, unless you don’t want clients or prospects to find you. When I told the store’s owner about the wrong phone number on his site, he said that other people had been telling him the same thing for weeks. I guess correcting the number on his site wasn’t a priority.

The final lesson I learned: I need to leave my bubble more often.

• Have you ever figured out what your time is worth? I mean really worth, not what you wish it was worth or what you tell people it’s worth. Calculate your hourly rate and then decide if you should handle a project or pay someone to do it.

• In business, before you agree to lower your fee for one project, determine if this project will lead to other projects from your client or your clients’ friends at your regular fee. If not, recommend someone else for the assignment. Keep in mind that clients talk and if you give one client a good price and his friend a higher price, your client will be offended and probably will fire you.

• If you drive from place to place looking for what you need (you’ll save time buying online), call ahead and ask for directions, get them on the Internet or get a GPS. My iphone gets me where I need to go but I’ve figured out I can’t talk on the phone AND look at the directions. Design flaw!