The Small Business Technology Guide is a resource providing you with the answers and strategies you need to make great technology decisions. Since new technologies are frequently introduced to the marketplace this guide will be updated periodically with the latest information. 


01 The Universal Spreadsheet - Digg It
As working professionals we are constantly challenged to achieve a healthy work-life balance. Most of us have a friend or colleague who regularly attends their son or daughter's soccer game, but whose cell phone is constantly ringing, or they are clicking away on their Blackberry. In the age where countless technologies are allowing us to become more efficient, newly found efficiencies are rapidly transforming the 40-hour work week into the "infinity" work week. Twelve-hour workdays are becoming increasingly common, and checking email on the weekends or before you get to work is now the norm.

At our organization we've also noticed this shift in the workplace. In addition to common technologies such as cell phones and email, we've encountered a specific software technology that causes the same diminishing returns. It is the universal spreadsheet. In an effort to streamline operations within an organization, the universal spreadsheet causes companies to become more labor intensive, inefficient and less scalable. What is the universal spreadsheet? Here are some examples.

It's the spreadsheet that manages your in-house inventory. It's updated by the four department heads on a monthly basis before it's sent off to the manager for approval. Each department head forwards the document to each other via email before it is submitted to the manager.

Or it's the critical group of 30 spreadsheets that contain account receivable balances for all your top customers. Since you joined the company three years ago the business has always used this method to manage its accounting processes. The last company you worked at used specialized accounting software, but you've been assured that packaged software "doesn't meet the specialized needs" in your current job.

Without question, the biggest hurdle to overcome for small business is allocating time. With limited time comes limited options, which translates to having to design "creative" solutions that more established firms take for granted. Also, most small businesses lack the technical resources to research, deploy and maintain mature software solutions. The universal spreadsheet seems to be a fit because it has the ability to store information (such as lists) in a tabular format, and it is relatively easy to access and edit.

The universal spreadsheet, although savvy, has a number of side effects. The most obvious is that the solution is often "home-grown", labor intensive and is not designed for long-term use. It's great to have company employees organizing the business rules for complex reporting standards, but seldom is the power-user a professional programmer. This becomes a problem when the company experiences significant growth, and changes are required to an existing spreadsheet to support the company's needs.

How can companies take advantage of spreadsheet technology without experiencing diminishing returns?

One strategy is to migrate critical business data away from spreadsheets. Information that is critical to your business should always be stored in a central location that is easy to access. This strategy allows co-workers, management, partners and customers to access a single version of your business data, thus having the entire organization on the same page.

Making this change doesn't always require a big investment. Spreadsheet information can be added to any number of commercially available web based customer relationship tools. With no software to install or configure, all you need is an internet connection to share and manage your company data quickly and easily. To get a list of recommended tools contact us at podcast@arbutusinc.com.

Moving away from the universal spreadsheet is a challenging, but greatly rewarding process. With careful planning and some technical assistance, you can transform your biggest information problems into a robust, scalable and cost-effective solution. 


02 The Business Card Strategy - Digg It
One of the easiest ways you can reach your audience is through the careful planning and development of a business card. Your business card will become a cornerstone to your company brand, as it projects the message you wish to give about your product or service.

Arbutus views the business card as miniature version of the entire business, since cards are given away to partners, customers and prospects on a routine basis. For business cards we recommend carefully planning every aspect of the design. Here are some tips to keep in mind when planning your business cards:

Business cards should look sharp. Poor print quality happens when small business owners decide to print their own business cards instead of having the cards printed professionally. We design our own cards but always have them printed professionally. It costs more but it is certainly worth the effort if you plan to print hundreds at a time.

When shopping for a printing vendor make sure they can also print promotional items (e.g. t-shirts, calendars, coffee mugs, pens etc.). This will save you from having to shop for multiple vendors for your printing needs. For recommendations for printing vendors send us an email at podcast@arbutusinc.com.

When designing your card, use software that can be applied to all your graphic design needs. Along with business cards, this could also include postcards, signs, letterhead, and website images.

When designing business cards, most companies also fail to use both sides of the card to convey their brand. Yes, it’s okay to use the front side and back side of the card! However, keep things simple and stick with a basic message. Arbutus has found success in putting an alternate color on the back (e.g. blue vs. white) along with our company slogan.

Once you start meeting with potential customers you’ll notice that people will flip your business card over to the back if they are impressed with the front. Always be prepared to communicate your brand.

Cards that don’t include common items such as an email address, website URL or fax number are common. For email, some argue that their industry doesn’t lend itself to using email. Nonsense! Some statistics show there are almost 2 billion active e-mail accounts worldwide. Overall, having an email address is a gateway to growing your business by reaching local as well as international customers.

Make it easy for your customers to communicate with you! Have a professional email address that reflects the name of your company (see next section) in addition to a fax number, cell phone number and toll-free number.

Our best advice for developing a great business card is to look at the cards of companies that you admire. How is card organized? Does the card have a lot color? Is there a toll-free number? A little planning for your business card can go a long way to impressing your future customers and partners.



03 Managing Email Overload - Digg It
When most of us think about using Internet technology, we tend to think about checking email, reviewing stock quotes, accessing our latest bank statement or purchasing something online. Now that were in the midst of the "information age", it's quite exciting to obtain and manage information that has relative meaning to our lives.

For small business, we've also discovered that Internet technology can also be used to better serve our team. This may include the development of a basic website that allows us to list and share information like a contact list, document list or schedule of events. However, our group at the Small Business Technology Guide wanted to discuss an additional scenario that is impacting small business - Email Overload.

To illustrate, here is a example of a small business owner and her challenges with managing client communication.

Stephanie owns a small company which specializes in brokering car insurance. Stephanie and her 6 person team work hard to keep organized, but they have a tough time managing document revisions and team communications between the company and their customers.

For each client served, Stephanie's business may receive several quotes from different insurance carriers. Once organized into a proposal, the document may be revised several times by the customer. . Stephanie currently has 65 customers (of various sizes) and her company has had to hire extra staff to manage client requests for proposal revisions and other project related tasks. Currently each proposal revision is emailed as a PDF document.

Stephanie has no offsite workers, but occasionally works from home on various high priority items. These files are usually kept private and are saved to an external hard-drive. These files are saved back to the network when she returns to the office.

Did you notice some of Stephanie's challenges? The basic idea is that Stephanie is trying to run her business on email alone, which is having a negative impact on other aspects of her business. Since email is the defecto communication standard in most workspaces, most of us don't even stop to think if there's a better way to manage, organize and distribute information. If your company is using email as the all-in-one business tool here are some tips to make things more efficient:

Find an easy to use document management tool that can be shared with your group. This could include your team members, as well partners or even customers. Using the "Sent Items" folder in your email to track document revisions is a confusing process that quickly comes inefficient. For a list of suggested document management solutions visit us online at www.jointcontact.com or send us an email at podcast@arbutusinc.com.

Secondly, find a way to track customer communications that can be shared by the team. Typcially known as "Customer Relationship Management" these systems go beyond the basic customer list, to track customer communication, marketing campaigns, sales information as well as customer support.

And lastly, understand your cost of ownership. There are many turn-key web portal solution available in the marketplace, but they are either open source, or require extensive configuration that goes beyond the technical expertise of small business owners. For your business you should be seeking solutions that can be configured quickly, have the ability to be accessed by your customers, and won't cost you a fortune to maintain. Use these guidelines when evaluating any new technology and you should be in good shape.