What's your technology mindset? Is it helping your business? (part 1)

In many assignments, I work with people who have not been successful with some aspect of Information Technology. They are frustrated in trying to get their software to do what they want in their business. They are struggling to improve their business and looking to the software to help them.

In many cases, this takes a long time for them to make a decision to look for help. In some cases, they look for help, but get technicians who only frustrate them even more. More technical solutions, more money, more hardware, more software. None of these address the basic problem that the business owner or manager is looking for.... a solution to a business problem.

That's the normal situation that I encounter. It often takes a lot of time for someone to be ready for help from another approach. I often start from the infrastructure side, (see Infrastructure article), because without it, other value can be lost. However, today I want to focus on the business impact of what an owner will go through.

To start with, there is a business need. The business need may be increased productivity, reduced cost, increased return on existing assets, improved information. Since the business owner is not aware of what can help to achieve that value, they go on a search. There is an assumption that technology can help, but who are you going to ask? Often, they ask their most knowledgeable staff member. If they have outsourced IT support to a supplier, they might ask him. A friend may tell them that they had success with a particular piece of software or a particular supplier, and so they go there.

When they get to their source of information or solution, there is seldom a real focus on their business problem or goal. We are now at the position of justifying the solution that has already been decided on (not by the business owner, based on his goal, but by the solution provider, based on his solution).

The "supplier" may provide the business owner with alternatives (different software products that could do the job). Time is then spent on evaluating the various options. The evaluation is based on the features and benefits of the various products (not on the needs of the business).

During all of this time, the owner is being led by the specialists, based on their agenda (they may want to help, but they don't understand the business), not on the business owners agenda.

In most cases, a lot of time is wasted (months at least, maybe years). During all of this time, the business owner's attention may be diverted from growing the business, or at least is not being helped at improving his business (the goal that started this analysis). And all of the time has been spent in the wrong direction (the techical solution versus the business goal). If a reasonable solution is achieved, then maybe it is OK, but can anybody afford to lose this time? Time is one resource that cannot be recovered.

In a recent assignment, I worked with a company that was growing very rapidly. Because they couldn't manage the volume of work without better tools, they went out and evaluated and installed new software. By the time I got involved, they had spent at least a year and a half evaluating, installing and trying to work with the software. They questioned whether the software was right for them. In my review, I saw that there was nothing wrong with the software. The problem was the lack of focus on the business issues.

Within three months of starting, we had refocused on the business issues and had made major progress on the business goals that they had established.

What did this year and a half cost them in terms of their ability to continue to grow the business? I know that their expenses were much higher than they should have been, their productivity was lower, but what about growth? Could they have increased their business more rapidly? That is something that I can't answer, but I know that profits were lost and time was wasted.

This type of loss is common with assignments that I take on, because owners are getting tired of the frustration and waste that they see. These organizations have a lack of skills with computers and maybe this is understandable. Next time, I'll look at people who are comfortable with technology and see what the results are here.

Planning to fail

Planning is a word that brings thick binders to mind in most people. Somebody creates this magnifient document that nobody looks at until the next time we are due to update it or create a new one.

Planning needs to live…. Live in your mind, so that when you have to make a decision, you have a picture of how your decision will impact your business. As a business owner or manager, you make decisions every day. You don’t have time to look up this big planning document to see what impact your decision will have. You must see the picture, clearly and know why you are making the decision.

I see many small businesses and not-for-profits who suffer from this.

They start with a need, but place restrictions on it. They can’t afford to spend a lot of money, so they look for a solution that fits their budget. The problem is, they have not fully defined the problem and what potential solutions might be. So they limp along with short-term solutions that restrict their ability to grow or improve the service that they could provide.

I recently helped a not-for-profit to escape this dilemma. They were suffering from a lack of tools for their organization. Day-to-day problems were common and took up a lot of the Executive Director’s time. They were also at risk of losing their data because of the reliability of the equipment.

We started with an assessment of the situation: What were they trying to accomplish? How was technology helping or hindering their organization? We recommended a renewal of the technology to provide stability, but also identified opportunities for improving business operations by upgrading the software. They couldn’t afford the expenditure that would improve business operations. They couldn’t afford the base hardware upgrades to provide stability either. They went looking for ways that they could fund the upgrades. They found a funding opportunity that provided not only the minimum hardware upgrades, but the business improvement software as well. They submitted and got approval, and are well on their way.

This “opportunity” never would have been found if they had started with what they could afford. They couldn’t afford anything.

While you may say that they were lucky to find this “opportunity”, I disagree. While they had the problem and solution clearly in their minds (the plan), they looked at the “opportunity” from a very different perspective. They were open for it. Planning is just that. Know where you want to go. Know how you can get there. Then let your day-to-day decisions help you get there.

Sometimes you may not know how to create a plan. Let somebody help you. But DON’T let them do it for you. You won’t remember it!

You might say that you don't have time to plan. You are too busy running your business. But you are planning. You are planning to fail!