Technology Helping Or Hurting Business
The Internet has been changing the landscape of businesses dramatically. Especially lately with far more widespread adoption of high speed Internet access in both the home and at the office. In most business environments now people have direct access to the Internet.
How are we as small business owners taking advantage of this? Are we using technology to our advantage or are we regularly fighting with it?
If you are fighting with technology you really don’t have very many options, either dump it altogether and loose out on the options and opportunities offered or get some help. Really I don’t quite understand why people choose to do absolutely everything themselves in small business. I understand that money is often tight but if you could free up lets say 2 hours a day could you possibly find a way to earn more money with that spare time?
Chances are you are wasting more than 2 hours a day with technology that is either poorly suited to you or just plain crappy. Free software and old cheap computer hardware can be one way of saving money but more likely you are being penny wise and pound foolish. Buying or building the proper technology for your business will not only make you more productive but it will make your life more enjoyable.
Rather than fighting with whatever piece of techno-crap you have cobbled together you may want to consider actually finding a savvy computer person to perform a little consulting for you. I’m not talking about spending weeks of time and recommending a million dollar investment, I mean just take a look at what you have setup and see if they have some recommendations that could make life better.
A complete overhaul of your operations from a technology standpoint may be exactly what you need but obviously money isn’t unlimited so start small and build. When you get technology though make sure you are purchasing for a purpose, saving money just because you can will often come back to bite you with technology. Quality hardware and software does cost money and having a techno geek around to advise what is actually quality and what is overpriced will be worth it.
Remember technology can either waste your time or free your life. If you want to achieve freedom you will have to spend effort on getting the right stuff for your business, or find a technology consultant to help.
Small Business Growth Hampered
With the economy slowly coming back to life small businesses are looking around and seeing just how many went down. With the majority of people in North America working for firms and companies that didn’t receive any financial help small business is now wondering why.
The US government was willing to spend over a trillion dollars to help out about a dozen large companies but for some reason they decided that spending a few million dollars to help thousands of small companies wasn’t worth the effort. Small business is really the source of income for most Americans and without help they are suffering badly.
Now with some business starting to pick up again a new and more dangerous problem has occurred. Once again no money is actually available and business are being choked out of their ability to expand. With the economy rising why is the government not targeting short term expansion funding and start-up grants for small business?
When small businesses decide to grow they grow with incredible speed. This is what is happening to many small businesses today, or it would be if they could acquire the required bridge financing to actually hire staff. I know the government has said that a fair number of the recently lost jobs are jobs that will never come back so why are they not helping create the new positions that could be so easily created.
This is beginning to sound like quite a rant but the truth is that normally small business doesn’t really need the governments help. Yet with banks being stupid like always and the economy only just starting to rise out of the crapper the government really needs to get with the program to help boost small business. Heating up small business growth is good for everyone, not only will it provide much needed jobs but small businesses are the big business of tomorrow so we need to build them up before the government has spent billions to achieve nothing.
Employment Vs Creating A Business
So you are considering leaving the comfortable world of employment and joining the legions of people who are building up new businesses? The world of an entrepreneur is a dangerous yet rewarding world and must be approached with care and consideration.
For those who are seeking to start their own businesses instead of joining the work force here are some pros and cons of being an entrepreneur.
Job Comfort/Security
Working for yourself does come with a certain amount of comfort and security. Its pretty unlikely that you are about to fire yourself so at least you have a position for the foreseeable future. The flip side is you cannot pay yourself unless the business makes money and that is only partly in your control. Customers need to part with money before you get paid so unless you are really good at convincing people and have a perfect and ready market you will have an uphill battle until you are able to slow down even a bit.
On the other hand those who have regular jobs have a certain amount of security and comfort. While lately with the economy you might be afraid of cutbacks this doesn’t impact your position of employment the same way it impacts an entrepreneur. You get to leave work at work and go home, and entrepreneur is at work no matter where they are.
Money
Lots of people get into small business as a way of making tons of money. While the success stories you will hear are quite true you also need to realize that those stories are made up of less than 20% of the total population of small businesses. A huge percentage of small businesses fail quick and hard. So while the money long term could be quite nice, the money now is basically crap.
Employment on the other hand promises you money now and some raises over time. This is very nice for most people because we usually don’t have a steady supply of money to live on until our business actually takes off. The comfort of a steady and basically predictable income is huge.
Perception
Its very cool to start a business and become your own boss. Really it’ll make you the coolest person on the block. At least until a few months pass and you don’t suddenly start driving a hot sports car. Building a business is incredibly hard work and quite simply isn’t very fun until you become successful.
Employment isn’t quite as cool, but it is the normal. Being employed doesn’t make you a star right away but you could work your way up in the company and become someone important over time.
Conclusion
Work is work, no matter which way you look at it. If you are not willing to ride the tides of a business then you aren’t ready to start one. If you are ready to take a huge chance and suffer for it, you could be one of the next great success stories.
Small Business To Cause Economic Growth
Small businesses are best positioned to really take advantage of any type of economic recovery. They are nimble and able to adapt on a day to day basis rather than waiting for weeks or even months of data to pile up. This means that while things are starting to look a little better it is definitely starting to approach prime time for small business.
In general an economic recovery is a slow and steady improvement of confidence and spending. Thus in the end people are making more money and in turn feeling free to spend it. While this is typically a slow process it is a process that is generally heralded by small businesses. Most of the jobs lost in an economic downturn are never officially recovered by the companies that shed them. The jobs are regained by new companies and innovation that is used to drive the economy forward.
So while confidence is slowly building in the economy, now is the time to brush off your business plans and start constructing the framework for a successful business. Catching the upswing early is the ultimate time to start a small business. You can reap the benefits of cheap labor and produce new and interesting products for both the local economy as well as the global economy in general.
When is the best time to start a new company? 20 years ago. When is the second best time? Today!
Hidden Employee Costs
With all the costs that can be attributed to business one of the largest potential costs is often forgotten. The cost is conveniently hidden as a secret cost in so many business activities and yet it has the potential of really costing you a lot of money.
The cost I am talking about is the cost of replacing people. Employee’s are really the backbone of a business and it costs an enormous amount of money to train and keep and employee. The item that is often missed is how much money it costs to replace an employee.
Employee’s are quite varied. Some desire simple things like money, or a flexible work day. Others are more complex and desire things like challenge in work, or varied tasks. Each employee is completely different and yet we often treat each employee exactly the same.
I’m not talking about treating employee’s the same as in providing respect or a safe work environment, I mean in how employee’s are compensated. Rather than truly looking at what an employee wants for compensation we just postage stamp each employee. You do such and such so thus you get paid this much. Employee’s have hugely varying value and thus should not only be paid differing amounts but should be looked at individually.
This is where small businesses really have the edge on large businesses. Since you are much closer to your employee’s you have a better chance of understanding what an employee really desires. Keeping an employee happy at work goes a long way to not only getting improved productivity out of the employee but also keeps you from having to train a replacement all the time. Training an employee typically costs you 2 or more employee’s wages as well as drastically reduced productivity.
Please note I am not advocating paying some employee’s drastically more money than others, that can be a great way to chasing the lower paid employee’s away. I am talking about looking at the total package of compensation and especially at the parts that don’t have a huge impact on the budget. Things like giving people the occasional flex day off, or enabling people to seek more challenge at work. Happy employee’s are productive employee’s and when you can keep them happy without paying more money you have finally succeeded.
I understand that right now a fair number of small and large businesses are busy chopping people from the payrolls. Just remember not to alienate those you are keeping, if they are no longer happy to be working for you, you will end up loosing more than you bargained for.
