We currently live in a technology dependent environment.
Whether it is to write letters or create invoices, check email or to actually manage the business, virtually every business and enterprise is now dependent on a computer and the accompanying programs such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
But why do we choose to stare at a screen for seven hours every day instead of just using the phone, a car (or other mode of transport) and a notepad? It worked well for our parents, so what has changed?
Well, quite a lot actually. Cheaper air travel, the ICT revolution and a greater sense of interconnectivity have made the world a much smaller place. Product development is now quicker, cheaper and easier.
With prices continuing to fall sharply, technology has become increasingly affordable and in many ways, increasingly necessary for all businesses.
By dramatically increasing access to both people and information, the internet has become a global business equalizer, making it possible for small businesses to compete with organisations that are much larger or well established.
Customers can be obtained and retained from across the globe – often all without ever having to visit or speak to either the customers or suppliers that live there.
Take eBay as an example. After just ten years of trading, eBay is one of the world’s most highly valued businesses. Millions now regularly buy products they can’t touch for an agreed sum from a person or business they don’t actually know and certainly will never meet.
Yet, it is no longer considered to be anything remarkable, simply normal business these days.
The internet and computers are enabling entrepreneurs and small and medium sized companies in a way never before seen. The creation of global giants can now occur in a matter of months instead of the years and years it once took.
In their simplest form, computers and software should enable you to be more efficient either by doing more or having reduced costs. Business software should, as its aim, improve the interaction between your business, suppliers and customers. It should provide meaningful information enabling sensible decisions to be made and also to easily give data as required by regulations.
A critical benefit that business software can provide is to help manage the cash position in the business. New businesses are often too soft when it comes to demanding outstanding payments from their customers.
One might get the impression that many, certainly among the smaller businesses, are scared to nag customers in order to get their money. And yet, there is no reason for this; very few customers will be offended by a legitimate demand.
However, if they are and refuse to pay, it is time for you to wake up and smell the coffee: chances are that your customer is in financial trouble.
Usually, standard business software is easy-to-use and simple to purchase. It helps automate as many business processes as possible and pays for itself in a mater of weeks.
Unfortunately small companies often grapple with potentially complex decisions on what technology they should adopt or what hardware supplier they should choose and end up selecting a “special tailor- made solution”.
This proves costly to create, maintain and also to use. Given that most employees know the basics of Microsoft Office, finding software that has the same looks and feel will go a long way to ensure that the functionality is actually used and that training costs are kept to a minimum.
IT plays an important role in the development of small companies by facilitating more efficient processes, transparency and improved communication channels.
As the number of employees increase, or new areas of the business develop, the need for new and additional pieces of software also grows.
Therefore do not allow IT to become a constraint; turn it into a tool that supports and develops your business. Keep IT simple and take package solutions than can be integrated together where necessary.
This way the potential to utilise general computer staff will be open to you, leaving the existing personnel to focus on developing applications that differentiate you from your competitors.
Who knows? Your business might be the next eBay. It’s out there somewhere…
is Director of Mamut Software - www.mamut.com
