Transcript: Congratulations! It’s a huge first step and investment in your business.
We’ve seen clients that say we don’t need to digitize payments because my students drop off cash and check in an envelope.
“We don’t need to automate scheduling and booking because I manage it just fine on my wall calendar.”
“Why should I send electronic invoices to my clients when they all have the fee schedule and should know how much to pay and when.”
“I love paper so what I never get to leave my brick and mortar.”
“I don’t need to access my business remotely because vacations are overrated.”
And now after all that mental gymnastics, you’re ready to embrace technology, where do you begin? Should you opt for a one-stop shop that offers you more than you need and charges you an arm and a leg for it? But the pro is you probably couldn’t outgrown it.
The alternative is easing your way into tech by digitizing certain components of your business, maybe starting with scheduling and booking app and then throw in payments, then payroll, and so on.
Although there is no such thing as one size fits all when it comes to softwares for your business, here are some tips that could be helpful in your evaluation process:
- First and foremost, are you really ready? You have to come to an understanding that time is money. You can do it all so why pay for it? Ask yourself if you can offload X, can you then redirect your time and energy on growing, selling, innovating, pretty much would not working on X free you up to take your business to the next level?
- Know what you need. Evaluate your business and really understand how you’re operating today and pinpoint the inefficiencies that could be improved with technology.
- Cost. What can you afford? Pay attention to the fine print to avoid a bait and switch scenario. Will you be forced into a multi-year contract and is there a penalty if you cancel?
- Resources. How long does it take to implement and what is required on your end to get up and running? How technical do you need to be? How much effort is required on your part to keep the tech functional on an ongoing basis?
- Lastly, Customer support. The ideal software should function seamlessly behind the scenes but when there is a hiccup, you the business owner should be able to access a human who will take ownership of this issue and troubleshoot it promptly. Ask about customer support and their escalation process.
For more insights and tips, visit us at finli.com
