News

Our President Tom Dodds recently wrote an article for the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal titled: Technology experts are worth weight in gold to small firms.

Five Areas Technology Advisors Help Businesses

The article outlined five areas where professional technology advisors like SlashBlue can help businesses like yours:

1. Evaluate and Plan Technology
2. Reduce Downtime
3. Fix SPAM and Security Problems
4. Improve Productivity
5. Increase Revenue

If you want help in any of these areas, please contact us. We are committed to helping you use technology securely, productively, and profitably.

Text of full article by Tom Dodds

Technology experts are worth weight in gold to small firms

Mary, a small-business owner, was at her wit's end. Her business was growing but her profits were shrinking. She knew she needed to squeeze more productivity out of her business to recover lost profits. She had started out with a small office and a few business partners and had grown in leaps and bounds to their current office space with manufacturing and distribution on site. The growth of the business had started slow and steady, much like the conveyor belt of candies in that episode of I Love Lucy, and like Lucy, Mary was starting to fall behind. She had just celebrated her second year in business; she was saving the backs of parents everywhere with her patented, fashionable and ergonomic baby carriers.

Mary and her partners surrounded themselves with expert advisers -- a savvy lawyer, thoughtful banker and an accountant -- to assist them in their business. With business at a critical mass, they realized they needed more than just to have their technology run -- they needed their technology to strategically grow their bottom line.

Their first couple of years in business had taught them that technology was a tool they needed to know how to use in order to succeed. As their company grew, their business drove them to quickly add servers, workstations, and a small call center to handle orders and customer service. In order to survive the growing pains they were experiencing, a technology expert was needed to be able to advise them on how to convert everyday technology into assets. The following five areas Mary got help in apply to many small businesses:

1. Evaluation & Planning: Without proper planning for technology needs, it is easy to make costly mistakes. Whether you are looking for a server or searching for the right software to enable your business to grow, your technology expert can be invaluable.

"The technology adviser should take on the trusted role that puts them in the same class with a CPA or an attorney," said Joshua Feinberg, author of the book What Your Computer Consultant Doesn't Want You to Know, "You want to be developing the long-term relationship in order to use that consultant as an extension of your business, as a sort of virtual CIO. The cost of that half-hour or 15-minute conversation [before making a technology purchase] is going to save you a lot of money in the long run."

2. Downtime: Since technology supports how she conducts business, the horror of the costs created by technology failure meant that this downtime was to be avoided. Mary was able to make an educated decision to partner with her expert so she had proactive maintenance and 24/7 access to tech support to keep her business running. The solution has more than paid for itself.

3. Spam & Security Costs: IDC discovered in a study that the average worker spends 10 minutes per day dealing with spam or unwanted e-mail. That's over one week of employee time lost per year. Mary couldn't afford to lose valuable time like this. Her technology adviser reduced her spam mail by 91 percent by recommending and installing an anti-spam strategy. This allowed Mary and her employees to focus on the business at hand; increasing productivity and cutting waste.

4. Productivity: Mary knew that technology could increase their productivity, but much of the company's core business software sat unused. She worked with her expert adviser to break down her business processes into manageable pieces allowing all areas of her business to realize the value of greater operational efficiency. For example, through a quick course on the use of her CRM software, and with direction from her expert, she and her partners were able to use the software to help increase sales times from 30 to 36 percent, saving each salesperson three hours per week.

5. Revenue: Mary's technology adviser showed her how technology lowers the cost of reaching and keeping in touch with your customers. She was able to capture her customer's e-mail addresses and build a valuable customer base. The company was able to offer specials and incentives for ongoing sales, turning one-time purchasers into repeat customers. Her marketing campaigns via e-mails and Webcasts would be far less expensive than by going the traditional direct-mail-and-cross-your-fingers route, adding more dollars to her bottom line.

In the end, by translating technology into profitable dollars, Mary's adviser proved to be worth his weight in gold.