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A recent survey of midsize-business CEOs and senior officers found that of the many issues they've faced, one of the earliest challenges was coming to grips with the role of technology in their companies. Titled "Business Rearview Mirror™," the study encapsulates the thoughts and advice of midsize-business entrepreneurs as they reflect on their early growth.
Administered between July 2 and July 20, 2007, the "Business Rearview Mirror" survey showed that recruitment, retention and regulations were at the top of the list of non-IT issues facing these companies when they were small. But it also showed that those leaders who recognized the importance of technology at the outset and had the best grasp of it saw the greatest growth.
Read on to discover the three lessons learned from the "Business Rearview Mirror."
Lesson 1: Integrate IT into your business
plan from the outset
The "Business Rearview Mirror" survey found that while
98 percent of responding executives said their company had a defined IT strategy as a small business, those who viewed IT as a strategic or competitive resource tended to grow faster than companies that "spent just enough" to ensure that employees could do their jobs. What's more, 18 percent of respondents said that delayed integration of technology into their business strategy was their biggest IT mistake over the years.
Lesson 2: Understand as much as you can about technology
Research the range of technology that is available to your company. Determine which technologies can provide the greatest cost and time efficiencies. Once you've made an educated decision to purchase and implement new technology, survey respondents recommend that you delegate the hands-on management tasks to dedicated professionals as soon as you can.
Interestingly, the survey uncovers a direct correlation between the owner's knowledge of technology and the success of their business. In fact, 73 percent of respondents who categorized themselves as "total geeks" reported double-digit average annual growth in their businesses over the past five years. Close to half — 48 percent — of "total geeks" also reported that their businesses reached the 100-employee milestone within five years of launch, compared to just one-third of all survey respondents.
As is typical with small start-ups, 74 percent of respondents were "totally involved" in IT decision making during their companies' early growth. However, among the fastest growing firms — those reporting more than 20 percent average annual growth over the past five years — 49 percent said that they had a dedicated IT person or department on the payroll before they reached 100 employees, compared to just 24 percent for the entire survey population. The dedication of human resources to your IT infrastructure not only maximizes use of your IT purchases, it allows you to stay focused on the other tasks of developing your business.
Lesson 3: Utilize your technology to its fullest extent
Take full advantage of technology you purchase by using it for as many tasks as possible, including production management, project management and supply chain and business development applications. And be sure to train your employees in the use of the technology. Asked what their biggest IT mistake had been over the years, the majority of respondents admitted they'd failed to take full advantage of the technology they had purchased.
For a copy of the complete Business Rearview Mirror
survey report, click here.
To learn more about how to meet your technology needs, contact your account manager, %%AM_FNAME%% %%AM_LNAME%%, at %%AM_PHONE%%.
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