Replacing the technology you have with less expensive alternatives (like getting
OpenOffice for free rather than spending hundreds on Microsoft Office) can save
you money, but it won't really upgrade your business. Bottom line, most people
see a word processor as just a word processor, and a computer as just a computer,
and don't gain by replacing one version with another.

Automating manual processes and reducing the time spent gathering information
needed to make decisions will cost money but improve business processes. Your
trusted technology advisor (you did get one since I recommended that last
time, right?) can help you in more ways than you know. In fact, that's exactly
why they can help you: they know ways technology can improve your business you
don't know. So let's look at three steps to get even more bang for your technology
buck.

First, get a whiteboard or chalkboard or a roll of white butcher paper. Pick
a business process, any business process. Any area of concern makes a good starting
point. Often small businesses need to rework their ordering or billing process,
or you may need to get a grip on what your three salespeople are really doing.

At the whiteboard, list every step of a process, like paying invoices. First
shot at this seems really simple: get invoice, pay invoice. Dig deeper. Who
receives the invoice? Put that person at the start of the process on the whiteboard.
Who files the invoice? Put that down. Who checks to see if the price on the
invoice matches the price on the purchase order? Write that down. Who verifies
the items invoiced actually match the items received? Write that down.

You can't do this alone. You need everyone involved in the process to participate.
That's why I recommend a whiteboard, so you can make the discovery process visible
to everyone. When someone comes in and says, "Hey, I sometimes check inventory
levels before we order parts," you have to add their involvement in the
process.

Warning: this will be painful at first. What appears to be a well-run office
may turn into a Keystone Kops episode of papers going here and there, people
using sticky notes to pass along vital information, and multiple steps where
a misplaced paper means the entire system breaks down. Owners of less automated
companies tend to be shocked at how many steps an office manager must go through
to handle what appears to be a simple task.

If you've never been trained in sales management and the sales process, try
whiteboarding a sale from the initial customer contact to payment for your product
or service by that customer. How many steps did it take? How many calls did
the

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