Susanne Dansey’s Blog

I’ve been fortunate to have a job which allows me to move up and down the Channel from the end-user right up to those in control at vendor level such as Microsoft, HP, and Symantec. I get the opportunity to engage with lots of different people and spread what, when you distill it, is pretty much the same message;

IT is an enabler, it’s not a necessary evil, and it’s not something that can’t survive on it’s own without the right people to support it properly.

Nicholas G. Carr wrote an article with a similar angle and it’s worth a read whether you are new to IT or not.

In a talk this morning, I spoke to lots of new and small businesses about how to use technology correctly. I’ve done this talk a few times and in the same vein, the presentation (thanks Vijay!) I’ve been delivering to the small business community says much of the same thing; it’s all about people, passion, and creativity. I can walk to work if I wanted to but I’d either have to leave very early in the morning or prepare to be late - it’s a lot easier to use a vehicle to help me get to where I want to go to faster.

One of my slides that I use to end users has just a quote on it:

“Your business is a distinct reflection of who you are.” (Michael Gerber “The E Myth“)

A business doesn’t just come about because you bought a sparkly new MacBook or installed a copy of Windows Vista or Office 2007 onto your PC. The small businesses who aren’t IT resellers I speak to tend not to know where to start looking when it comes to IT. To them it’s a bit like putting your hand in the lucky dip and hoping you get what you wanted.

In my recent set of presentations I ask the audience whether they’ve seen the recent BT adverts with Gordon Ramsey battling to install his IT whilst his kitchen goes to pot. Everyone nods. Everyone understands what BT are trying to say.

How is it when I talk about Microsoft Small Business Specialists that they didn’t even know about them and wouldn’t know where to begin in terms of finding them? More and more in my talks, I feel like I’ve taken on the role of the MotherShip and doing something that the Community has been asking for such a long time. What’s more, at the end of the presentation they give me their business cards so that I can forward them names of Partners in their areas - thank you to those Partners that offered their services as a result of my previous post.

I’m still finding that over half of the audience in every instance isn’t backing up their company data stored on their computers.

Sheesh! *slaps forehead with palm of hand*

Take the time to tell those who you bump into at regional business events that even a USB hard drive of approx 320GB costs next to nothing when you consider that even three days downtime can costs thousands. Don’t forget to tell them that so many businesses fail even a year after a disaster. Get them to think about business continuity management.

Get them to integrate IT into their business plan.

Here are some other things that I recommend you talk about if you get the chance:

• Business Contact Manager - lots of people have it and didn’t know they did. Here’s my post on it.
• The cheapest ISP isn’t always the best ISP
• Backing up is cheaper than trying to work out how to get your business back on track after a disaster
• Blogging is good to convey your personality to your potential clients - especially good for the smaller businesses who don’t have a marketer or a sales person to bang the awareness ‘drum’.
• Resellers are important as they tie the disperate strands of technology into a convenient toolbox
• Email signatures are a great way to get simple  (’Zingers’) across to your audience
• Updating ‘latest news’ on a website is always useful - it’s 2007, not 2001 anymore…
• A website won’t bring you business - you have to know your audience first and know how to keep them re-visiting it
• All technology is good, just know how to shoot the gun that’s meant to fire the silver bullet.
• Free online training for Office 2003 and 2007 is available here.

Lots more I’m sure that I’ve forgotten but I’m not talking to the tail of the tail and so more work needs to be done to get people to listen to the opportunities. We’ve all seen what was formerly known as bCentral as a vehicle to highlight small business issues but as resellers are reluctant to point their customers there and there is less and less opportunity to link them to a Small Business Specialist, how else do we do it?

Why not do what I do? Work with local regional organisations (i.e. pay it forward by giving before receiving) and get the kudos you need to be first in line when someone wants a recommendation for a good IT provider.

So, if you’re a customer - get IT into your business plan (and if you haven’t even got one of those then get one!)

If you’re a reseller - get out there in front of these customers and help them - it’s efficient marketing if you get it right - 1:100 each time if you do what I do! It’s not about technology no matter how much you think it is. SBS 2003 is only sexy to an IT reseller, David Overton, the Microsoft Server team, myself, and the SBS MVPs - to everyone else it’s ‘tin’.

If you’re a vendor - listen to what’s happening in the trenches - get the mechanics sorted so that the tools already in place work well and aren’t just there to look fill a short-term goal. Microsoft even commented on how important Small Businesses are here.

I end this post with a quote from Edward de Bono which I think befits my point about IT being an enabler and not the answer to a successful business:

“Creative thinking is not a talent, it is a skill that can be learnt. It empowers people by adding strength to their natural abilities which improves teamwork, productivity and where appropriate profits.”

Learn more about this at the Small Business Forum that takes place at the end of this month (IT resellers only) - click here for more information.