If you’re not a tech advocate, or realize the value of information technology (IT) to your small business, it’s very likely your company will not expand as fast as you’d like or expect.
In fact a new survey of entrepreneurial mid-sized businesses, in which respondents shared insight on what moved their business ahead, notes that while recruitment, staff retention and meeting new regs are big business challenges, the top barrier is not understanding the importance of an IT strategy.
The “Business Rearview Mirror” survey ranks “managing IT to the best advantage” as the second key element in entrepreneurial success.
Small and medium sized businesses (SMB) and their tech leaders should integrate IT into the corporate strategy as early as possible. About 18 percent of respondents note that “not integrating technology into business strategy sooner” was the biggest mistake made.
And not only should SMB leaders endorse and support IT, but they should strive to be a techie and learn as much as they can—from what tech is available to what’s being used in the enterprise.
An SMB owner’s technology savvy seems to correlate directly to business success -73 percent of respondents who rate 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” reported that their businesses reached the 100-employee milestone with in five years of launch, compared to just one-third of all survey respondents.
Seventy-four 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 reported they had a dedicated IT person or department on the payroll before they reached 100 employees in size, compared to just 24 percent for the entire survey population.
So by now can you guess the biggest business stumble SMBs make when it comes to IT?
The answer: “Not taking advantage of the technology acquired,” despite the fact that a majority ranked major technology applications for having the most significant impact to the bottom line.
That’s why it is so important for small and medium sized companies to have a trusted IT advisor, like Tech Experts.
(Special thanks to Judi Mottl of the Small Business Resource Blog, located at www.smallbizresource.com for this article. )