A lot of you know that I’ve been doing a lot of work on the side trying to get my own business up and running. When you’re in these early phases, there’s a lot of trepidation and fear, but also a lot of excitement and potential. Some days you focus on the one, other days you focus on the other. When you turn to books and friends and success stories, you get a lot of “rah-rah”, “Act don’t think” maxims and such intended to push you and your drive through the roof and get things done. All very good and important.

Occasionally, though, it’s good to get a look at the dark side. Not to remind you of what could happen if things go wrong (any intelligent entrepreneur has already had dozens of night sweats over such scenarios before even hanging the shingle) but as a bit of an education of how to deal with it if they do. The fall of iFullfill, an internet-based shipping fullfillment house, was fairly copiously blogged by the CEO. Initially, the blog was his mouthpiece for extolling his ideas of infrastructure and business principles. It then takes a dark, sharp turn that is later revealed as the abrupt ending of his company. It sort of makes me want to hurl for him.

But, here’s the take-away – when the customers are the core of your business (and, really, when aren’t they?) transparency is always your best bet. This is not to say that you should tip your hand whenever you hit a rough patch and panic all of your clients, but when major problems arise in the business, espeically those that are driving away customers, it’s best to appeal to your remaining clients for guidance and try to explain the situation and the steps you are taking to fix it. Paul, the CEO over at iFullFill, was remarkably candid about the failings of the company in his most recent blog post. I agree with one of the commenters Cindy, though – too little, too late. When you plan the layout of a company, you’re supposed to look at all of the stakeholders – employees, shareholders, executives, etc. Customers are often seen as a “them”, a problem to solve for. They should really be seen as part of the team, as an “us”. When a company goes under, especially one like iFullFill, which many other entrpreneurs relied on for the success of their businesses, all of the stakeholders – including the customers – are affected by it. All suffer in one way or another. Your customers deserve the same respect you give your executives, shareholders and employees (You are respecting your employees, aren’t you?). Customers should be part of the team, not part of the problem.