Are you using the appropriate technology to match your business needs?

Would you eat spaghetti with a knife? Would you cut the lawn with nail scissors? Would you dry your clothes with a hairdryer? Granted, there may come a time when you need to do one, or all, of these things. But ordinarily you’d want to use the right tools for the job, right?

The same thought applies to running a business in our tech-saturated present. Technology is all around us and it helps us in a hundred ways, every day. But some technology is outdated, or unsuitable for the job we need it to do. So, it hinders instead of helping.

Do you, as a small business owner, find yourself struggling to stay on top of the day-to-day, because your systems are old, or slow, or inappropriate?

What you need is ‘appropriate technology’.

This concept is also an ideology, based on the ideas of economist EF Schumacher. He wrote a book about it in 1973 called “Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered”. So, it’s an idea that’s been around for a long, long time.

The appropriate technology movement is now centred around the notion of technological choice. The focus is on small-scale operations, energy efficiency, regard for the environment and people-centred approaches. It’s been used in both ‘developed’ and ‘developing world’ situations, very often in areas of innovation and social upliftment.

I’m adopting this idea in the context of small businesses and digital technology. Why? Because it’s appropriate.

As an entrepreneur, you need technology that helps sustain you.  Whether it takes the form of applications, techniques, processes or products, it should make your business resilient and efficient.  It needs to support your customers, empower your team, and help you meet your business goals. It should also be cost-effective and easy to use.

In other words, the right tools for the job. Accessories that save you time, money, energy, the earth etc.

Appropriate technology is like the fork and spoon for your spaghetti, the lawn mower or the washing line.

What tools are letting you down? Does your business need a tech facelift?

I’ll be touching on areas where technology can help your business work smarter, so stay tuned. :)

[Image Source: RGB Stock – somadjinn]