Automating certain tasks can save a ton of time and money. But it can make you less efficient, too, if you're not careful.

Reaching a decision before acting seems about as commonsense a notion as you might find. Would you send salespeople out to make calls before deciding on the type of product you want to sell, a price point, or the nature of your target audience? Absolutely not. Doing so would be a frightening waste of time and resources.

And yet, according to decision management automation expert James Taylor, with whom I recently appeared at some business events, that is exactly what happens in many companies of all sizes. The culprit can be traced to a combination of the way business processes grow and the software that runs the company. I know--talking about the structure of software may sound dry on the surface. But understanding what goes on under the hood and how to make it more efficient can free up a lot of cash for the average company.

Where Decisions Are Really Made

As Taylor explains it, companies tend to bury decision making into their business processes. Sounds like it makes sense, right? Where else would you put it? However, according to Taylor, the best way to handle decision making is up front and separate from the rest of a business process.

Even though key decisions should be made separately from (and before) such functional activities as processing an order, checking a credit rating, screening an order for fraud, deciding to underwrite an insurance policy, or handling a customer complaint, that's not what usually happens.

Instead, companies go through layers and layers of procedures only to discover halfway through the process that they're dealing with, say, a transaction that's a special case. Routing it to the appropriate handler should have happened minutes or even hours before.

A simplified example that Taylor gave was of a life insurance company that wanted to accept people under 21 as low-risk prospects, those from 21 to 49 as medium risk, and ones over 50 as high risks to be declined. But then the exceptions started. What if someone under 50 had a heart attack and might be higher risk? What if an over-50 applicant had been a good customer that the company didn't want to lose? What if someone under 21 engaged in dangerous sports?

Putting together a range of possible scenarios and exceptions at the beginning would have let the insurance company more expeditiously process applications. But, instead, you have the epitome of inefficiency: Employees spend time partially processing applications that will never go anywhere.

The Double-Delay Hangover

There are two results when decisions get pushed down deep into a business process and the software that supports it. One is that as business processes grow more complex, the decision making happens far removed from the place where it would most help you efficiently route people and resources to solve problems. Consider smart e-commerce companies that have become more efficient by noticing signs of fraud up front, based on complex statistical analysis of data that was already available, and then taking appropriate actions early on. Such predictive decision making reduces the number of false positives that would do nothing but overburden the fraud department.

Here's the other issue: The basics of how you process business are relatively stable. The decisions you make, on the other hand, change far more frequently with marketing needs, industry shifts, and changes in the environment. Back to the insurance company example, it might be that new tests could help pinpoint potential health issues up front, making the decision process even faster and more accurate. But if the decision making is buried in the software, going in to add these new factors becomes more expensive and difficult.

Whether you use home-grown software or third-party applications, take a step back and look at your actual business processes to see if moving decision making to the front of the queue might be one of the best things you could do for your company.

To succeed in online retail, a start-up needs a solid niche, to connect with itscustomers in a unique way. Here are five e-commerce companies that have marked their territories.

More people than ever are going online to shop. They're making more splurge-purchases on luxury sites, doing more comparing of bargain prices, and, yes, they're even "drunk-shopping," as e-Bay mobile vice president Steve Yankovich, revealed last year. As an alternative to brick-and-mortar stores, the e-commerce industry has emerged as a great place to get exactly what you want, when you want it, and how you want it. The best sites carve out a niche in the industry and make sure to connect with their customers in a unique way. Here are five e-commerce companies that have marked their territories—and are primed for big success.

Specialty: Food and wine Headquarters: New York City Leadership: Philip James, Kevin Fortuna (co-founders), Mark Pinney (CFO) Why it's hot: Want some Gilt with that wine? Lot18 is a luxe, membership-only daily deals website that specializes in top-tier wines, gourmet food, and sumptuous culinary experiences. The company's team of experts works with winemakers, food producers, and hospitality chains around the world to select personalized, high-end offers for customers. The 750,000 member company raised $30 million in funding from Accel Partners, New Enterprise Associates, and FirstMark Capital last November, and delivers to all 50 states. Not sure if you can trust Lot18's taste? Its VP of procurement, Dini Rao, was a senior buyer for AmazonWine and helped the company to sell more than half a million bottles of wine in its first year.

Specialty: Sports Headquarters: Los Angeles Leadership: Justin Cener (CEO) Why it's hot: Launched in August 2011, Crowd Seats is the first flash deals site for professional and collegiate sports events around the country. The company purchases excess inventory from teams and brokers, and sells nearly 500 tickets each week for 50% to 90% of the face value. Plus, there are no convenience charges or processing fees, and ticketholders can cash in on Groupon-style discounts via friend referrals. Crowd Seats vouchers are currently available in six U.S. cities, and will expand to four more, including Toronto, by the end of June. But don't think you're getting bottom-barrel deals. Although it hasn't yet received additional funding, Crowd Seats sells nearly 500 tickets each month to showdowns like the Boston Celtics vs. Orlando Magic and the Yankees vs. the Rays.

Specialty: Design Headquarters: New York City Leadership: Jason Goldberg (CEO), Bradford Shane Shellhammer (CCO) Why it's hot: In February 2010, comeback kids, Jason Goldberg and Bradford Shane Shellhamer raised Fab.com from the ashes of their defunct social networking site, Fabulis. The new company is a flash sales marketplace that sells home goods, accessories, clothing, and jewelry from independent designers, and recently updated its mobile app, which is the No. 1 shopping app for design in the Apple App Store. Fab.com raised more than $51 million in funding by December 2011 and acquired German flash sales site Casacanda two months later. The newly christened Fab.de added 300,000 members in just 40 days, bringing the company’s global membership to nearly 2.5 million.

Specialty: Travel Headquarters: New York City Leadership: Elie Seidman (co-founder & CEO), Ariel Charytan (co-founder & CCO), Etyan Seidman (co-founder & VP of product) Why it's hot: Aside from booking a flight, finding a place to stay can be one of the most daunting aspects of travel. Enter Oyster.com: a travel accommodation PI whose 20 hotel "investigators" have covered more than 2,500 hotels in over 100 locations around the world. Investigators take high-res photos of everything at each location—from the mattress to the mini bar—and review it on a one-to-five "pearl" scale. Oyster.com also checks out nearby restaurants to see if they're up to snuff. Last April, the Travel Channel invested $7.5 million in the company and earlier this year, Oyster.com released a free iPad app that includes more than 700,000 undoctored images and interactive maps.

Specialty: Apparel Headquarters: San Francisco Leadership: Charlie Graham (CEO) Why it's hot: Founded in 2005, Shop It to Me is hardly a new kid on the block. Even so, the personal Web shopper makes more than 2 billion product recommendations each month and continues to feature new retailers among its 700-brand list. Recent retailers include Alexander Wang, Milly, and Karen Millen. The company's platforms include Salemails, or personalized newsletters delivered to its 4 million, too-busy-to-browse subscribers; and an expansion of ShopItToMe.com, where bargain hunters can search for new deals. Read more about the e-commerce industry. —Judith Ohikuare

By focusing less on your next "big idea" and more on the actual execution, you'll have a better chance of building a successful new business.

Maybe it's the Facebook craze, or the warped view of entrepreneurialism that Hollywood and mainstream media have created. For ages, young and hopeful entrepreneurs have embraced the fallacy that great ideas are the root of entrepreneurial success and instant wealth. People say, "If only I would have thought of that, I'd be rich!"

Those of us who have built businesses know that success is rarely about the breakthrough idea. Clearly, a good idea is important, but it's just not the source of limitless riches. Real entrepreneurial success most often comes from hard work, risk-taking, and developing a product or solution that creates real value for customers. For example:

• Instagram was originally a check-in app (Burbn) that evolved to become a photo app because it filled a need in that category more effectively than existing applications
• Google was a slightly better search engine, and a platform for a number of "free" products that over time turned into an enormous profit generator
• McDonald's thrived by making tasty, cheap hamburgers
• Starbucks offered better quality coffee in a pleasant environment
• Dell manufactured PCs better, cheaper, and faster than rivals

Working with CEOs, investors, and entrepreneurs to build new businesses, we've found that many initial ideas are frankly not worth much. Most eager entrepreneurs overvalue the initial idea and falsely believe that a unique idea is the key to value creation. They will even create extreme secrecy around the idea in the hopes of creating a first-mover advantage-which itself is not all that valuable in most cases.

Far more important is a rock-solid business model that creates value for a customer, especially relative to existing solutions. When the business model is battle tested through the incubation process, it becomes invincible. Very few businesses end up creating billions of dollars of value based on the initial idea - superstars such as Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft changed their business models many times before settling on a scalable solution.

When entrepreneurs come to us for help on their "killer idea," here's the advice we give:

Don't be afraid to share your idea. The value is not in the idea, but in the execution. Experienced entrepreneurs, business owners, and investors can give you valuable advice. If your idea is any good, people will steal it. Your job is to execute better than them.

The business you develop through a test and learn approach will be worth multiple times more than your original idea.

Instead, look at existing solutions and figure out ways to create more customer value than what those solutions offer.

Most products can't be all things to all people. A differentiated product will attract a segment of customers that value different things. An innovative start-up is almost always advantaged when chipping away at a market leader if they can offer something different that appeals to a small group of customers.

Turn your idea into positive action, and build real customer value. Then, just maybe, you will be able to turn the next "big idea" into a successful business

Share your thoughts on evaluating new business concepts with us at karlandbill@avondalestrategicpartners.com.

You can't live without your product--but what about your customers? Five tips to ensure you're selling something people want.

Where do most entrepreneurs get inspiration for new products? By thinking of items they themselves wish they could buy. This is why there are so many new products directed at new college grads, and relatively few targeted to folks in nursing homes.

Launching a company to create a product you want to buy is a great idea. You're likely to put your imagination, energy, and passion into it, and you'll always be more effective at selling something you yourself would willingly pay for.

But you can hit trouble if you make the mistake of building the product to your own specifications. That's what happened to Eric Warnke and Mark Fossen, founders of the companies Surreal WiFi and Backup Box, both based in Edmonton, Canada. Surreal WiFi is three years old and deploys and manages hotspots in restaurants and businesses at 125 locations throughout Canada. Backup Box allows customers to back up Web servers to services such as Dropbox and (shortly) Google Drive. Launched in March, Backup Box already has more than 2,000 users--and counting--and has helped back up about 6 million files.

"With Surreal WiFi, we accidentally built a product for ourselves and not for our customers," Warnke says. "Backup Box benefited from the lessons we learned." So can you:

1. Solve problems, not pain points.

"A lot of startups create business models around easing a pain, but it's a tiny pain--not something people are willing to pay for a solution to," Warnke says. Instead, he advises, "Actually solve a problem."

Case in point: Rather than seeing itself as a hotspot provider, Surreal WiFi considers itself a marketing company. Its real benefit to customers is not wireless Internet access for their customers, but rather the opportunity to market their products via splash pages and email sign-ups. "Not having Wi-Fi is kind of a pain, and it's easily solvable," Warnke says. "How to get people to stay longer, and how to collect email addresses is a problem restaurant owners consider on a daily basis."

2. Simpler is better.

Originally, Warnke and Fossen loaded up Surreal WiFi with all the features they themselves would want, but they soon realized their sophisticated technological tastes were different from those of the typical restaurant owner. "We started out with network options where you could set a router to transmit power or change the channel it broadcasts on," Warnke says. They soon learned that restaurant owners didn't need all these options, and the more functionality their product had, the easier it was to make a mistake that might disable it.

The moral of the story is to start with the fewest possible features and plan to add more as needed. That's a lot better than starting with too many and needing to take some away.

3. The customer isn't always right.

"One of the biggest things people told us with Surreal Wifi was that they needed the ability to block individual users, to prevent them from downloading movies and watching all day long," Warnke says. As it turned out, that problem never materialized. "Now I tell them, 'If you ever have that problem, call me and I'll give you that feature.'" No one ever has.

4. Sell it before you build it.

Inspired by the start-up Buffer, the partners began selling Backup Box before they had a product to sell. They knew from discussions on Dropbox user forums that customers were eager for an FTP interface that would work with the service. But they didn't know which features customers would want, or how much they'd be willing to pay.

To find out, they created a website for Backup Box describing the service and offering a variety of plans ranging in price from free to $99/month, with and without limits on data transfers per month, the ability to schedule transfers in advance, and other features. Once someone clicked on a plan, the site would come up with a page explaining the product was not ready yet, and inviting the user to leave an email address. That gave them detailed information that helped them create plans and pricing later on.

5. Don't listen to your friends.

In fact, you may not want to even tell them about your product idea. "When I created the landing page for Backup Box, I didn't tell the large mailing list of entrepreneurs I was on, or my friends and family," Warnke says. "I knew they'd go there and put in their email addresses because they'd want to support me." And that was the last thing he wanted. "Your friends and family can't provide validation for your product."

Advice from Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Media, and Scott Gerber, founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council.

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Advice from Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Media, and Scott Gerber, founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council.