Speed bumps on your Information Highway

Speed bumps are an effective way to get people to slow down on the road.

They also affect the use of technology in your business. It can also go beyond technology and prevent you from improving your performance in other ways.

In a recent discussion, a client mentioned that there are a lot of opportunities and ideas for improvement, but there is no "down time" between events. This was identified by an organization that used events as a major revenue generator. The problem was that they knew the way that they managed the events was inefficient, but they couldn't improve them, because as they cleaned up from one event, they started another one.

This is also true in any day-to-day operation. When sales are good, everybody scrambles to respond to customer needs and doesn't focus on improving performance. Improving performance requires stepping back from the fray and looking at how you can improve the operation, then designing and implementing solutions. This becomes more complicated when you install new software or try to use the software that you have in different ways. You need time to learn how to use the software and figure out how to apply it to the problem. When you change something, you need to learn how to do it (even if you designed it) and this slows you down and affects productivity.

As small business owners, we often feel that we cannot afford increased expenses. This applies to software and the use of consultants or advisors. This costs us money. The only time we consider this is when business is not so good and we have to reduce expenses. They we find out that it will cost us to save money, and we are doing it in a declining market.

When you are driving slowly on a built up road, speed bumps are not a problem. They are only a problem when you have an open road and an opportunity to move faster. The same is true of speed bumps in your business. When business is great, you have an opportunity to increase sales even more, by improving productivity and reducing costs, but you can't do that without help. You don't want to take on long term projects that may someday gain some benefits. You want to focus benefits that improve productivity in the short term, while business is booming. The way to do that is to have someone look at existing business processes and what is holding you back, then work with you to develop actions.

You can't afford to have someone study your needs, make recommendations and walk away. Knowing what to do is not enough. The speed bumps will prevent you from developing solutions. You need focus and support during the implementation process. This is even more true when you are running hard to keep up with customer needs.

Having a trusted advisor, who understands your business (and not buried in day-to-day activities) can help you to take a broader view of your business operations and help you to maintain focus during these critical times.