The Time is Now
Technology options have never been better for small business. The cloud has brought high-value computing technology to the masses. Innovation in cloud technologies has leveled the playing field for small companies. We can now access state-of-the-art artificial intelligence technology for a small monthly fee, which was previously only available to mega-cap corporations just a few years ago.
Choose to ignore this trend at your own peril.
Digital is the main reason just over half of the companies on the Fortune 500 have disappeared since the year 2000.
– Pierre Nanterme, CEO Accenture
Data storage technology has advanced 10-fold over the last several years while prices continue to drop. The proliferation of serverless technologies means that your costs of maintenance and deployment are zero, and you only pay for compute time that is consumed. Systems that previously required multiple servers at $1200 per month each, can now be built using serverless technologies for $20 per month. The tools for developing custom software for small business have never been better.
Many Companies Try to Get by on Spreadsheets and Email
Manual processes are slow, cumbersome, and prone to error. They mostly rely on individual employees with tribal knowledge. Today’s average employee tenure is less than 4 years. When they leave, so goes your process. Growth-minded companies invest in automation, and in doing so, they get best practices, scalability, and deep insight into business metrics as a bonus!
“Software is the language of automation.”
–Jensen Huang, CEO, Nvidia
I recently flew into a regional airport on a small airline that did the entire flight check-in process manually. They had a flight register that was kept with pen and paper. This register kept a log of each passenger and the weight of their luggage. A hand-held calculator was used to tally up the luggage weight for the flight. There were 3 people working the check-in counter, furiously scribbling, cutting (with scissors) and pasting (with scotch tape) into this register.
They were working very hard at being cordial as each customer approached, but they were completely frazzled by the burden of this manual process. It took over an hour to check in 30 passengers. There was not a single happy person on either side of that check-in counter.
Contrast this with my connecting flight on Southwest Airlines which serves 100’s passengers per hour at any given airport with a fully automated, self-serve kiosk and a staff of four.
Manual processes don’t enforce best practices. Best practices are left up to individual team members to make the right call. At one Fog City client, there was an issue with shipping and receiving where the staff was not properly documenting received items in their warehouse. This led to delayed deliveries to their clients. Building an internal custom software tool that was intuitive and easy to use while also enforcing warehouse best practices and flagging exceptions in real-time, improved their receiving process and led to a 90% reduction in inventory errors.
What About Scalability
Manual processes are not scalable. You simply cannot grow a business that is riddled with manual processes. A recent Fog City client in the service sector, grew from 3 projects per month to 20 projects per month after automating their project workflow using custom desktop software and cloud-based data management. A 7x increase in top line revenues with only a 2x increase in staffing. New staff members came up to speed on the business process quickly because the software was designed to be intuitive, fun to use, and appropriate for their level of technical knowledge. The busy work of managing data in local files and spreadsheets was eliminated. Errors resulting from tedious manual data entry and formatting vanished overnight. Automating manual tasks will give your business instant scalability.
Employee Productivity and Overall Job Satisfaction
Your employees deserve better. No employee ever said that they love cutting and pasting data from one document to another. No one signs up for manual data entry. Employee morale is improved when they have high quality tools that handle all the “busy work.”
The investment that you make in your tools will reap productivity dividends for years. Think of a carpenter using a hammer to nail down a subfloor and then think of the same carpenter with a pneumatic nail gun. Which carpenter is more fulfilled in their job? Which carpenter is more productive? Which company does the carpenter want to work for? Which carpenter feels more empowered? Invest in your people and they will respond accordingly. Don’t invest in your people and they will look for a company that will.
Deep and Meaningful Business Insights
You might not see it now, but the insights and efficiencies that are created by collecting and aggregating data will drive your business to new heights. Only when your company’s data is in a central location does it become possible to analyze it and create meaningful business metrics. The treasure trove of information is invaluable.
One Fog City client doing research in a niche vertical was able to transform their business by aggregating data. They interview individuals in their industry, analyze the data and generate reports for their clients. In the process of aggregating their interview data they realized that they were contacting the same people multiple times in a short period of time on different projects. This would lead to fatigue and some angry study participants.
A side effect of automating their research workflow was that we had data on every person they contacted and we could track and avoid situations where individuals had been recently contacted. This improved response rates and improved the willingness of all participants to contribute. The good will that was generated by this effort raised the reputation of the research firm in the industry. Interviewers were happier and more productive since they didn’t have to deal with angry participants. This type of insight would never have been possible without collecting and aggregating business data.
Why You Need to Build Your Own
Off-the-shelf solutions or SaaS products are not enough. Your business is unique. Your goals and your team is like no other. Trying to apply a SaaS business tool to your processes and data needs is like trying to wear a one-size-fits-all pair of jeans. It will most likely meet your bare minimum requirements, but it will require customization to meet your specific needs. Giving your team the right tools, instead of just any tool, will unleash creative freedom, empower data seekers, and allow your business to thrive. Custom software done properly will drive operational excellence.
You Need a Partner Who Can Support Your Bold Vision
Having a relationship with a great software development company is in your best interest. If your company is growing, you will need custom software along the way. It’s like having a good landscaper. Every now and then you’re going to have a big project, but there will be maintenance tasks and small projects that will arise frequently. Having a trusted partner will allow you move quickly and confidently when the need arises.
One recent Fog City client was able to make a timely business acquisition knowing that they had a trusted partner who could handle the complex technology integration. We provided operational guidance and were able to identify bottlenecks, leverage cloud services, and work out scalability issues within the first few months of the acquisition, dazzling customers and significantly improving deliverables.
Contact Fog City Code Works today for a free consultation on how to get your growing business to the next level.
