Don’t Get Nothing for Something

Amy Inouye is a graphic artist who designs books out of her Los Angeles studio, but she is probably best known for her “Chicken Boy” catalog. Inouye started the 24-page catalog after rescuing Chicken Boy--a 22-foot-tall fiberglass statue of a boy with a chicken’s head--in 1984 from a downtown fried-chicken outlet that was going out of business. Her Chicken Boy T-shirts, caps and other weird L.A. memorabilia are purchased by fans all over the world, but Inouye once got “burned” when she lent out her mailing list. She said the experience taught her how to be smart about networking and when to steer clear of entrepreneurs who want help but don’t have anything to give in return. Inouye was interviewed by freelance writer Karen E. Klein.

Networking is the way I get almost all my work. I am constantly talking to someone who has a friend who’s writing a book. They put me in touch with that person, and I wind up with a contract to design the book.

So networking has been important for me. Yet I find I really do have to be careful about it. There are people who want to take advantage of you. From time to time, I’ve misjudged things--like the request for my mailing list. I gave it out, but I got absolutely nothing in return. The person who took it disappeared from my radar screen. I really felt stupid when I realized what a valuable part of my business that list is. I shouldn’t just have given it away, even in the name of helping somebody.

That experience has made me more cautious. I still have people who ask for things such as the names of my vendors. Now I tell them I simply can’t do it. As a person who works alone, I tend to forget the value of my business. I try to remember that value is something I create and that I should not devalue my time and experience.

As a small-business person with a small budget, you need to trade favors. But it’s important to make sure that what you’re trading is of equal value and that the favor you give won’t diminish your business.

Sometimes I design a logo for free for someone who is just starting out in business. But I make sure to trade in the favor fairly quickly, so there’s an exchange.

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I also evaluate the person I am considering making a trade with--is this someone who can do something for me in the long run? Do I think this person is going to stick with this business? If I don’t believe in them, I won’t do it.

Requests for advice are the same. After a certain point, you know who really wants your advice and who doesn’t. Being in business as long as I have, I know which ideas are realistic and which are not. But some people only want to hear you say how great their idea is. If they dismiss what I have to say, I don’t talk to them anymore. My job is not to convince them they’re wrong. That’s not a part of good networking. Usually, I just walk out the door backward.

Other people are willing to hear where there might be a problem with their idea. I have learned from that attitude myself, because sometimes when I talk to people about a decision in my business, I realize I don’t really want to hear what they have to say. I’m insecure enough that I don’t want to hear the criticism.

But in most cases, I try to evaluate people’s opinions and detach my ego as much as I can. I have made a lot of mistakes--even after people have told me I was pursuing a bad idea. But one thing I’m fairly good at is learning from my mistakes.

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AT A GLANCE

* Company: Future Studio

* Owner: Amy Inouye

* Nature of business: Graphic design, “Chicken Boy” catalog

* Location: P.O. Box 292000, Los Angeles

* Year founded: 1976

* Number of employees: 1

*Annual sales $80,000