Business is all about people: people work and create and develop and sell products and services for other people – customers and clients – that, ideally, improve their very quality of life. It is the fundamentals listed above which accomplish these desired end results. It is the fundamentals which create success. And each one of these fundamentals is all about people.
Technology should be designed and used to support and reinforce these fundamentals. Technology should never be used to replace fundamentals.
Therefore, the first step for any business is a thorough assessment of its fundamentals, a comprehensive analysis of the business. My article A Goal Without A Plan Is Just A Wish gives the details of how a thorough business analysis should be done. This is something my company does routinely. We conduct a very thorough assessment of a business, identifying its strengths and weaknesses. We do this at no charge; we do this as a painless way for us and the leaders of a business to get to know each other with no obligations or financial commitments.
The second step is a complete business plan to get in each fundamental and strengthen it, one step at a time.
The third step is to work that plan until each and every fundamental is in place and working well. As all this is being done, the business generates more and more revenues and profits and grows toward its goals.
When the fundamentals are in place and the business is doing well and generating lots of cash flow, the business can draw up exact specifications for any technology needed. All technology and software chosen would fit properly within the business, would strengthen the fundamentals even more, and would produce all the possible benefits of the technologies without any downside or glitches. Now the business soars like a rocket, with both the fundamentals and the correct technologies working hand-in-glove, like a well-oiled machine.
All too often, the introduction of new technology adds complexities and problems to a business – even though the intent is always the exact opposite. Have you ever had new software or a brand new system or technology put into your business, which then caused all sorts of confusions, glitches and even chaos? This occurs when the technology is not designed and based on the fundamentals – or if one or more of the fundamentals is missing or weak in the business.
Adding technology with little or no thought to the fundamentals produces a business that devotes more time to the technology than it does to the fundamentals – fundamentals which create success, prosperity and happy clients/customers who sing the organization’s praises. Technology is very often introduced to solve a problem when the real problem is a lack of one or more fundamental ingredient to success. All too often, technology becomes the master and people become the servants to technology – totally dependent on technology. It should be the fundamentals which define and drive the technology, not the other way around.
Any and all new technologies would then be chosen or designed based on these fundamentals. They would be chosen or designed to strengthen and reinforce the fundamentals, which in turn strengthens the business.
As a person who recently built a new house, I smile at your house analogy and what a good one it is! Joe, a) – yes to fundamentals first! b) the sexy add-ons and Alexa’s, automatic sprinklers etc. can come second or in a concurrent fashion. If the infrastructure in your business is not present with a savvy business plan, well-balanced HR, and intuitive leadership are not in place – the rest does not mean a hill of beans. Just my take – a thoughtful and well-constructed read!
Thanks for all this, Maureen. You chose the right path in building your house. 🙂
“There is one thing in common in all these fundamentals – people. Business is all about people.” And that’s the part that so many lose sight of as you mentioned, Joe! Thanks for a timely and useful reminder!
Thank you as always, Susan.