Like many of the small businesses I work with, I typically avoid recent technology. Cell phone and e-mail? Use ‘em all the time. Blackberry and a blog? Nope. I am, in the parlance, a late adopter. In a successful marital negotiation, I did just talk Tish into “investing” in a DVR. I’ll do more yard work on the weekend if I can just watch NASCAR at night. (This, kids, is key to a marriage that lasts.)
I do know that technology choices for most small businesses used to be pretty simple. There weren’t any. As a business owner, you used what you already had at home and tried to avoid sizable investments in servers, networking equipment and applications that were usually made, and priced, for larger enterprises. In general small businesses seemed to be an afterthought for most technology vendors. Competition and innovation – many due to that “Web 2.0” stuff you hear about – have changed all that.
New applications are available to help you manage, streamline and build nearly every function of your business. Much of this innovation is delivered via Web-based solutions, meaning the days of capital-intensive, “big-iron” hardware purchases for small businesses are coming to a close. Some small businesses will still need to purchase technology solutions that are deployed and managed in-house. But many sizable and sophisticated operations can avoid ever having to hire an IT manager, and deploy technology solutions at a fraction of the cost of just five years ago.
The result is that savvy entrepreneurs can save their money for truly transformative technology, rather than just nuts and bolts applications like e-mail or file servers. ‘Transformative technology’ means using applications to take your small business to the next level, be it with revenue, new markets, or completely new ways of doing business – not just to become more efficient or functional.
Using this concept, here are five ways that new technology can transform your small business:
1. Having a real conversation with your customers: E-mail marketing, leveraging Web analytics, Customer Relationship Management systems and, yes, blogs, allow you to extend these conversations and deepen the value of the relationship for your customer. This gives you the added benefit of knowing that you’re selling something the customer wants, rather than guessing.
2. Selling locally, sourcing globally: Use Web 2.0 collaboration technology to hire and work with people you may never meet. Off-shore outsourcing isn’t only for the big companies anymore.
3. Joined-up management: New Web-based, on-demand Business Management Systems give you the ability to manage every facet of your business online, at a fraction of the cost of traditional in-house software systems.
4. Real productivity – zero cost: For most businesses, there’s no need to spend $2,000 on productivity applications for your five-person small business. Google Docs has the 80 percent functionality that you really use, and it’s free.
5. True mobility. Arm a sales or service employee with a $500 laptop, an iPhone, and a unified messaging system like GrandCentral, and you might not need them to set foot in the office again. Keep them in the field, earning money.
As I said before, I personally don’t tend to be an early adopter. That said, this stuff is just too good for most businesses to wait long.
Want to know more? The North Coast SBDC is presenting a Business Technology Boot Camp at the HSU Aquatic Center in Eureka (next door to the Adorni Center) from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on June 19. Experts will present “transformative technology” workshops and applications. In one day, you’ll be able to catch up with many of the best recent developments in technology for small companies. Thanks to generous sponsorships by NetBooks and VerticalResponse, the cost is just $35 paying on line or $50 cash or check at the door, including breakfast and lunch. For more information, email me or surf over to the SBDC website.
Michael Kraft is a board member for the Redwood Technology Consortium (RTC) and is Executive Director of the North Coast SBDC. RTC’s mission is to diversify and strengthen the economy and quality of life on the North Coast by enhancing our region’s technological capabilities.
Copyright 2008, the Eureka Times Standard Newspaper. The print version of this article first appeared in the 6/12/08 Times Standard.