At the start of the year, it’s always interesting to see what consulting firms like Gartner Group identify as the top technology trends for the coming 12 months. This year, the top 10 consists of cloud computing, big data, extreme low-energy servers, next-generation analytics, app stores, in-memory computing, mobile-centric applications and interfaces, contextual and social user experience, the “Internet of things” and, finally, tablets. While all these are interesting and at some level important, they really don’t have a lot of direct impact on you, gentle reader. In fact, for most people, these trends require translation just to be understood.
Sure, you may own an iPad and have bought Angry Birds from the App Store. You may have a smart phone and use it more frequently than your desktop or laptop PC. You may use Facebook for your business, but you probably worry more about employees wasting time online.
Here’s the 2012 technology environment in which most businesses operate: some desktop and laptop computers, possibly networked together for sharing files and printers. There’s a copy of Quickbooks somewhere. There’s a phone system and a fax machine. Retail establishments will have a point-of-sale system and a credit card machine. This business might be connected to the Internet via DSL. The IT department consists of an outside company, called when something is beyond the ability of that smart girl who works in the shipping department to fix. There’s probably no regular backup process in place. It doesn’t have a mobile-friendly website. In fact, it probably doesn’t even have a website. Oh, and I forgot the last bit of essential technology for 2012: the postage machine.
Technology isn’t at the core of the vast majority of businesses (most of which are small). And there’s nothing wrong with that. The technology decisions most businesses face are something like this: Should I take my laser printer, scanner, fax machine and copier, and trade them in for an all-in-one device? Amazon will sell you a Brother MFC-9560cdw (don’t you just love printer names?) for $599.99, which connects to your network wirelessly, does two-sided color laser printing, scanning and copying, and faxing (including the ability to route incoming faxes to an email address). The question is whether that represents $600 worth of value to your business. If your existing equipment is all working fine, it may not make any sense—in fact, the question may not even occur to you.
That’s the problem with technology. It changes pretty rapidly, there’s always something new to understand and evaluate, and some things turn out to be a bust. Keeping up can be a full-time job, and making a bad decision can be costly. For many small businesses, that makes doing nothing an easy choice.
But the start of a new year is the perfect time to ask some questions about your business. The obvious one is: “Where do I want my business to be in 12 months?” And even that question depends on how well your business is doing today.
This is where I run into problems while writing Tech Talk. I really want to write something that will deliver value to you and your business. But every business is different in many ways: profitability, appetite for risk, comfort with technology, strategic point of view and caliber of employees, to name just a few. So it’s nearly impossible to deliver 1,000 words that apply to all situations.
That said, there are two things I always recommend to business owners. The first is tactical: Identify the things that you bang your head against every day and fix them. The problem may not even be technology-related. But regardless of what it is, that problem is sapping your energy. Does your printer jam regularly? Get it repaired or get a new one (which will probably cost less than the repair and have useful new features). Don’t know what needs fixing? Ask your employees what stymies them on a daily basis. Got nothin’? Congratulations!
My other recommendation is to talk deeply about your business with a smart third party. Sure, I’d love it if you hired me to help suggest ways in which technology can help drive your business forward, but that’s a secondary question. Perhaps the biggest problem you face as a business owner is your own isolation. Who can you talk with about the hopes you have for your business and the challenges you face in running it? I’m wary of consultants, since frequently you spend a lot of money just to educate them (imperfectly) about your business. A business coach? Atul Gawande wrote a terrific article for The New Yorker, which asks the question: “Shouldn’t professionals have coaches?” and makes a great argument for a professional coach. If a highly skilled surgeon or genetically gifted athlete can benefit from coaching, perhaps you can too.
Regardless of how you go about it, talking with a smart person who really understands what it’s like to run a small business (ideally, a business much like your own) is certainly one of the best ways of starting the new year. I can guarantee most of your competitors aren’t doing it.
This month also marks the beginning of Tech Talk’s 12th year. This column is at its most interesting when it answers your questions, so please keep those cards and letters coming!
