More Proof:Tech Businesses Will Win & Those Run Like a Job Will Lose

I've been going nuts over the last 4 or so months trying to let technology business owners know that not only can they survive this tough economy, but actually grow.

Well it was more along the lines of spreading the word that survival and growth are based on running your company like a business and not as a glorified job. Painful but very true.

I'm going to continue on this important rant today by adding a little proof beyond my personal experience. If you read Inc Magazine you may have seen this. If you missed it, here it is again. This snippet was found on page 97 of the latest issue talking about outsourcing work and processes written by Darren Dahl:

".....
1. VETTING VENDORS Sometimes entrepreneurs underestimate the cost of researching vendors and vetting choices. The process can take weeks or even months and, depending on what is being outsourced, may require site visits and travel costs. And in times like these, entrepreneurs need to budget even more time to dig into each vendor's financial standing, says Paresh K. Shah, president of MindLeaf Technologies in Bedford, Massachusetts. Shah's company, which installs electronic records systems for hospitals, has outsourced several functions, including payroll and IT.

Two of the key questions Shah always makes sure to ask are "What is your current workload?" and "Are your clients paying on time?" He wants to hear that the company has a solid revenue stream and healthy cash flow. "As soon as you outsource part of your business, you are dependent on that vendor," he says. "You need to ask the kinds of questions that will allow you to sleep at night, knowing they won't go out of business the next day." Shah adds that it may be worth paying more to work with an established vendor rather than an upstart offering a lower price...."

Please note that the quotes in this part of the article come from a fellow technology business owner that outsources a lot of his IT functions. You can't get any better proof outside of me than that.

Read it a few times if you need to because I want you to really hear what Mr. Shah is saying. In a nutshell, he wants to deal with a real business and not an unstructured entity that may be there on Friday and gone on Monday. This has normally been the case but now no business looking to outsource critical functions can take a risk.

The end of the snippet also points out that a proven, value based vendor is the way to go and well worth the money versus the guy/gal cutting off their nose despite their face by slashing prices at a loss in an unnecessary price war. All this does is show prospective clients that you have no idea about how your business works because you are willing to lose money.

Running a business like that DOES NOT instill confidence in a client. It just tells them you won't be around long. This doesn't help anyone and I hope that's clear to you.

Structure Structure Structure

Although I hear the complaints all the time, no business is too small for this way of thinking. And now you have very little choice in the matter.

How the technical and operational pieces of your business tick and knowing exactly what's going on at any given moment is not a luxury of the big business. It's a necessity for any real business that wants to stay in business.

And I'd be happy to talk about it with you. Don't be left in the dust.


To Your Business Success-

George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach