John O'Connell is a counselor at Greater Bridgeport SCORE.
Small Business IT requirements will vary greatly depending on business type, the need for digital communications and the ability of the business to use basic computer software. Starting with good foundational elements and building out as business needs and cost/benefit dictates is the best way to leverage your investments, take advantage of new technologies and keep up with or outperform your competition.
Planning and Managing
All businesses should go through annual planning cycles to assess their overall condition, understand shortcomings, strengths and opportunities and determine how best to improve and grow their business. Technology should be one of the elements reviewed, what’s the competition doing? Where am I on the technology curve? Even? Ahead? Behind? Playing catch up is very difficult once a competitor has leveraged technology to reduce cost, increase margins and acquire new customers. Let’s take a quick look at some things to consider.
• Computer – A reasonably good home computer should do fine. Be sure you have anti-virus software, if not, purchase and run the software to assess the usability of the computer. If it’s running slowly, you can add more memory. Avoid software offers to clean up and speed-up your computer they rarely work.
• Printer – any functioning printer is OK to start with. Many new printers are less than $100. If you need a new printer, consider an All-in-One Model. Print sparingly, ink at retail is $8000/gallon.
• Internet Service Provider (ISP) – many options are available, evaluate your usage needs: how many people using the Internet, email simultaneously? Do I use the Internet to interact with vendors, suppliers, and customers? The more you do, the greater your need for ‘bandwidth.’ That will drive your ISP decision – ISDN (phone company) or cable. Too much is far better than too little.
• Basic Business Software – You’ll need to track your business transactions, manage your business plan, cash flow, and interact with vendors, accountants and customers in a universal format. Microsoft Office Products have long been ‘industry standard,’ if you want to try a no cost alternative, consider Google Docs.
• Backup - All business data should be backed up regularly. Many inexpensive options exist – backup drive – disk copy – flash drives etc. Backup media should be stored away from the computer. Don’t skimp on this, disk drives do crash, they can be replaced and restored from your backup.
• Website - Individuals and businesses searching for goods and services are using the Internet in ever increasing numbers. Almost all business cards, flyers and advertisements include a web address. People want to ‘check you out.’ All you may need is a one or two page website that lays out your value proposition, testimonials, special offers etc. In order to grow market share you have to compete where potential customers are looking for goods and services. You should be able to get a very basic website up for about $500. If you are an Internet-based business (you are attracting customers to your site via search engine,) you need to consider: search engine optimization, paid search and social media opportunities (topics beyond the scope of this article.)
Maybe/Maybe Not
• Laptop – Travel for business? Need to give presentations or proposals? Need to take orders/check status on the road? Consider a laptop, prices have come down. It will work just fine as your office computer too. If you need to use the Internet in customer locations, you will likely need a wireless service with supporting hardware/software. Most hotels have Internet connectivity and ‘Hotspots’ are available but you can’t assume you can walk into a customer location and connect using their infrastructure.
• Industry Specific Software – packages for many industries (medical office, manufacturing, retail, warehousing, automotive to name a few) can provide comprehensive solutions for managing all aspects of your business. Technical requirements to support the package will be defined by the vendor.
• Local Area Network – if your business requires employees to access information or process transactions concurrently you will likely need a LAN. All users on the LAN can share printers, modems, servers and other technical components. A Small Business IT Consultant can configure your network.
• IT Consultants – there are many fine and reputable IT Consultants. There are also some that would like to sell you the solution they have available or know how to implement. You should feel comfortable with your consultant it should be a long-term relationship. If they jump into the solution that will solve all your problems before they take the time to understand your business and identify your true needs - look elsewhere.
Technology investments can be costly but well thought out and properly implemented can pay for themselves many times over by reducing costs through operational efficiencies and providing a differentiating experience for your customers.
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