connected systems – Cooper Mann Consulting

October 18, 2012

Reinventing your Business – What Happens When Systems Fail?

There is a lot of discussion today about how our children are growing up in a world where high technology is simply part of life and lifestyle. I even read an article about how people are evolving because of the availability of information; evolving to the point where we no longer store and retrieve information, but store information on how to get information. The article cited an example of someone who couldn’t recall the name of an actress in a movie they had seen, so the immediate response was to search for the answer on Google. In the past, people relied upon memory, and found various ways to mentally associate and store information so it was able to be recalled. Now, there’s an app for that.

Are we losing our ability to effectively store and recall information? Are we forgetting how to do things before we had all this technology to help us? It makes you wonder sometimes, how technology-dependent we are. We look at the ruins of past civilizations and view seemingly impossible structures, (impossible given what we know about the technology available at the time) and wonder how they came to be. The knowledge was there at some point, but is now lost.

Is your business at risk from a similar fate? Maybe it sounds silly, but it makes sense to at least think about it, because there are a lot of companies out there today that are not paying attention to critical issues such as knowledge management and sustainability. Finding ways to capture business knowledge and protect it is essential in every organization, whether small business or large enterprise.

Small businesses are often centered on an owner who started the operation, and who just knows how things are done. The primary goal in this situation is to capture that knowledge and turn it into process. Only through this approach may a business begin to reduce its reliance upon a single individual, and this is a critical step in creating both sustainability and continuity in the business. In larger enterprises, process and structure are essential to keep the various parts and participants moving in the same general direction.

Once those processes are established, generally using technology to support or facilitate them, is that the end of the task? Many businesses seem to believe so, and move along with the impression that they have things well in hand. And then a major system or technology failure occurs, and folks are left standing around, unable to get their jobs done. In the worst cases, there isn’t anyone in the business who really understands how to pull things back together or there is no longer access to electronically stored information necessary to continue operations. How would you handle things if your systems – your computers and software and systems – were no longer available to you?

While GPS and high-tech auto-pilot systems can bring tremendous efficiencies to the process of flying, they also can give a false sense of security that encourages complacency. If something goes wrong, the auto-pilot will adjust and the computer will tell you where to go, won’t it?

Here is where technology has the ability to distract pilots–and entrepreneurs–from asking themselves if they’re both focused on and capable of solving the right problems.

http://www.inc.com/chris-mittelstaedt/business-lessons-from-air-france-447-crash.html

Each and every business must consider how they would address a severe information technology outage, and should take steps to protect and preserve business knowledge so that there is some hope of recovery from such an event. In an article on Inc.com (Survival Skills Every Entrepreneur Needs), writer Chris Mittelstaedt makes this observation, and suggests that business owners address how they might get things done “old school”, just in case all this nifty technology fails us unexpectedly.

Make sense?

August 17, 2012November 17, 2015

Knowledge, Sustainability, and Succession

In a global economy, where competitive pressures are increasing every day for even the smallest of businesses, sustainability becomes as much a focus for the business as growth once was. Developing strategies for retaining profit margins, improving cash flows, solidifying supply chains, and streamlining operational processes is essential when designing the business to handle the stresses of a depressed economy. But knowledge management – investing the learning and experience of individuals into the DNA of the business – is also an essential element to sustainability and business continuity. When the entire realm of understanding of how the business runs exists solely in the proprietor or founder, there is little foundation upon which to build an enterprise. However, when this knowledge is turned into systems and processes which guide the operation, results are able to be reproduced consistently, and reliance upon key individuals is reduced significantly. This aspect of succession planning is often overlooked, but is THE essential element in business continuity.

Accounting professionals are trusted advisors to their clients, and provide much more service than simply financial reporting. The consultative approach, delving deeper into the business and looking beyond the surface-level numbers, is what business owners are looking for. You can help your clients see beyond the numbers to find ways to improve efficiency and profitability in the business, and to help turn individual knowledge into business knowledge, crafting a plan to retain and build on that value. That’s what sustainability is all about.

Make sense?

July 12, 2012

Food Truck Research Revealing Small Business Trends: low cost ops, mobile, social

Food Truck Research Revealing Small Business Trends:

low cost ops, mobile, social

In a recent article on InformationWeek.com, author Patrick Houston distills Emergent Research data relating to shifts in food service paradigms and the growth of the Food Truck Industry into 3 important points that every business should consider. With the trends driving these mobile businesses towards specialized and customer-oriented service, certain realities are revealed regarding how this segment of the food industry, and small businesses in general, are addressing increased cost and competitive pressures.

Emphasis on operating expense

Businesses are shifting away from large investments and fixed expenses and are more frequently seeking variable cost, or “pay as you go” services. Even shifting from capital expense to operating expense isn’t enough; the operating expense base must be reduced where possible. “The shift reflects a broad reality of the post-recession economy. For the foreseeable future, that reality affects IT plans, as you seek to meet line-of-business strategies designed to please customers seeking the same opex-vs.-capex advantages.”

Smaller roll-outs, and “prototyping” of services is essential

Small businesses aren’t in a position to gamble on the success of a major product or service roll-out, and are finding that localized testing or limited release of services is a good way to gauge success without going all-in. Particularly with the challenges in obtaining financing for any sort of startup operation or business expansion these days, businesses are learning that going in small may not only be the best option, it may be the only option.

Be mobile, local, and social

Food trucks aren’t the only businesses that recognize the value of mobility, localization of services, and social involvement. Small business owners of all types have always found new opportunity by making valuable connections through social interactions. The rise of social media services on the Web has served only to increase these opportunities by introducing users to virtual communities and groups, extending reach and influence beyond localized boundaries. That being said, the social approach also serves localization very well, and allows businesses to interact at deeper levels with those in the local area or region as well. Mobility is also critical to delivering the cost reduction and agility for the business, and creating a means to meet the customer on their own terms.

The big thing to get from this article is the message about doing more with less. Smaller businesses, or smaller workgroups, are more agile and can generally innovate more readily than large groups. Cloud computing and leveraging technology to benefit the business can introduce amazing capabilities for the business, yet don’t have to represent the big expenditures that purchasing and installing technology used to require. And remember that the customer experience is what’s important, and you have to do business with the customer in a way that suits them.

Make Sense?