Business Technology: Not Always The Solution

On a recent trip to Singapore, I spoke to 20 or so entrepreneurs. After the talk, someone brought up the idea of an online marketplace for people to meet. They continued going on and on about the idea, gaining steam as their thought process gained momentum. They asserted that a marketplace based on information technology wouldn’t be limited to sector or age or location. It would be accessible to anyone and everyone, anywhere at any time. It might have sounded great — in theory. But they were ready to jump into the deep end of the pool without even seeing if there was a market for their idea.

The way I see it business technology isn’t always the solution — at least not right away. Information technology is a tricky thing when it merges with business. Information technology might not be shiny and new. But business technology is still finding its feet. Everyone’s talking about it. Everyone’s online. Everyone wants to be a part of it. But most of the time, I don’t think this sort of complex business technology should be the first course of action when trying to roll out a new process or system. I mean I’ve seen people trying to throw all their time and money into complicated technology when their current needs could be solved with a much simpler — and elegant — solution.

Frankly, sometimes there’s something to be said for the old tried and true methodology. Given that, I think the best way to launch a process or system is to figure out what’s the minimum viable product you need to accomplish your business’ goals. Keep it simple. Make a mock up. Get some feedback. Find out if there’s even a market for your process or system. Along the way, you’ll also find out that your system may start to change as you learn more about what your customers want and need. With this approach you can see how the system is actually being used, and then you can build onto the system as you go. Information technology should merge with your business’ needs — not take it over.

That’s why I say that technology isn’t always the answer. Spending your time and effort on a full blown technological process or system without thought for how it’ll effect your business — or how you can integrate the two — can leave you with a system or process that doesn’t even meet your needs. Like one of my clients, you may find you’re spending 2,000 hours on small widgets that aren’t being used in any meaningful way. That’s 2,000 wasted hours. And that doesn’t even touch on the amount of money those hours have cost you. But you’ll find that if you start small, you can always add more features later.

How much could you save if you stopped a current technological project and ratcheted it back to only what you need right now? Again, remember, you can always add more bells and whistles later.