Smoke And Mirrors

“Smoke and mirrors is a metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation or description. The source of the phrase is based on the magician’s illusion where magicians made objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a confusing burst of smoke. The expression has a connotation of virtuosity or cleverness in carrying out such a deception.

In the field of computer programming, it’s used to describe a programme or functionality that doesn’t yet exist but appears as though it does (cf. vaporware). This is often done to demonstrate what a resulting project will function/look like after the code is complete, for example, at a Trade Show.

Generally-speaking, ‘smoke and mirrors’ refers to any sort of presentation by which the audience is intended to be deceived, such as an attempt to fool a prospective client into thinking that one has capabilities necessary to deliver a product in question.

So my friend Mr Small Businessman is having the wool pulled over his eyes. The website developer has bagged himself a steal (literally) because he did the website for free but Mr now-looking-smug-across-the-desk-from-me Small Businessman drops into the conversation the fact in lieu of that, the company is paying the guy 15 percent of all online sales. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to calculate who’s getting the better end of the stick here. I wondered if there was an end in sight to Mr Small Businessman’s arrogance and stupidity. Apparently not!

So between them, the former owner of Mr Small Businessman’s company and the website developers have been making hay whilst the sun shone at Mr looking-smug-across-the-desk-from-me Small Businessman’s expense. They’ve secured the Top Level Domain Name, “most top-level domains here in New Zealand are delegated to responsible parties or organisations by The Domain Name Commissioner who is responsible for the day to day oversight of the .nz domain name registration and management system.

Under the .nz Shared Registry System, authorised registrars can register and manage .nz domain names directly with the registry. Registrars are authorised by the DNC.” So, when I search for the ABC company, the chances are higher that the .co.nz website comes up before the dotcom. one.

I remember looking at the website and thinking this isn’t the same site I saw the other day BUT it has all the SAME elements including the trademarked logo (which co-incidently they don’t use on the dotcom site which is the legitimate website) and words. Mr Small Businessman’s accountants deserve a medal for looking out for his interests because goodness knows someone’s got to!

The .co.nz website has the letter by the current owners making it appear to be authentic. What those ‘big city’ magicians have done is make the dotcom website seem to be THEIR online shop and Mr Small Businessman was none the wiser until I’d pointed it out to him AND despite months of frustration about not being able to get into the backend of their website. Is he a slow learner or thick? I’ll leave it to your imagination as to which hat I think best fits! Ignorance is bliss? Like hell!

So, a lesson for Small Business owners, you might be small but keep your hand to the plough when it comes to your Intellectual Property. Not knowing is NOT a reasonable excuse. Learn about it so you DO know and even if you have good Accountants or Solicitors that can do it for you, look at it anyway so YOU know.

Oh and a note to the war weary, IP it’s the surefire way of protecting your business in this information age. It can seem costly to begin with in start-ups but plan for it. Build the portfolio. Start with trademarking your business name. Here in New Zealand, at $NZD 112.50 per application per class, that’s 35 cups of coffee or 3 a day if your an addict, so you’d pay for trademarking your business name in under a month at that rate. Now, you can take that to the bank!