How to Use Business Technology as Your First Employee

You have probably heard many times the expression: "let's level the playing ground." In small business the most consistently used technique for doing this is the installation and regular use of computers.

 In fact, for many new businesses your first and only employee, at least for the first few years, is often your computer system and its wise use. Computer technology is one area where your largest competitors usually cannot gain a leg up on you. You can buy the same hardware as they can, often at discount prices, and chances are very good that you will learn how to use your computer software much more effectively than the typical corporate manager will.

 We are in an advantageous time as far as acquiring computer power at very attractive prices. In the past four years, both IBM and Apple have introduced lower-priced computer systems through mass merchants, such as Sears. Competition from mail-order sellers, such as Dell and Gateway, has driven retail computer prices down as has rapidly changing technology. For example, it will soon be rare to find a computer system that does not offer a CD-ROM player. But there are still thousands of models sitting in stock without this feature.

 If your daily business does not demand a CD-ROM player, and most do not, you may be able to get especially good pricing on slightly older systems without this feature. There is a growing amount of technical assistance for learning how to buy and use computer software. Many programs come with sophisticated tutorial programs built in. The larger software companies, such as Microsoft, even offer technical help on the Internet. One of the fastest growing business magazines of all times, Home Office Computing, is chock full of tips each month on how to evaluate software programs, hardware systems, and accessories. If you can read and learn, you will soon be as competent in the use of your computer as your Fortune 500 competitor.

 What To Ask Before You Computerize

 Buying a complete computer system with software and printer can easily cost you over $4,000. A purchase of this size demands some careful thinking before you proceed.

 The first question to ask yourself is: Why? What advantage do you expect computer automation to provide? This makes no more sense than hiring an employee without first determining what tasks they will perform.

 Remember: Computers alone do not increase your productivity. If you do not learn how to use what we call "computer leverage" you will gain little. This phrase indicates the power of the computer to do your daily tasks faster, more accurately and in some cases more individually than you can do manually. But it takes more than just a superficial knowledge of the software to achieve this advantage. A common example of computer power with a routine business task is storing different versions of sales letters, inserting the recipients name when you are ready to send them. Going a step further, you can use software to connect your customer name and address list with these sales letters to individualize both the opening and body of the letter. Using a technique called mail merge does this.

 Jobs Computers Commonly Do

 What do business owners use computers for? There are eight functional areas where desktop computers can make a real difference:

 Communication. You cannot afford a secretary. So how does something as simple as a creating a reply letter to a sales prospect get done? Word processing programs, such as Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, and Ami Pro, permit you, who may not be able to type so well, to create a professional written presentation of your ideas.

 Customer Service. In dealing with your customers, it pays to provide a personal touch, such as remembering their birthday, or even being able to remind them quickly what they last ordered. The electronic version of your filing cabinet is known as a database program. Sure, you can keep this information on file cards. But the tendency is to not update these cards as often as you should. Database programs also provide the information necessary to create labels when you wish to mail promotional literature to your customers.

 Accounting. It is critical that you can tell your cash position at any given time. And it is often useful to know who you have been buying from and how often. Computerized accounting programs such as Quicken, Money, and Peachtree, organize all the financial details of your business. All you have to do is enter money earned and money spent just like you do in your checkbook register. These programs can also keep track of inventory, accounts receivable and employee records.

 Advertising. Small business marketing requires that you be able to shift directions quickly with new pieces of promotional literature, a new Yellow Pages ad or an eye-catching new brochure. Desktop-publishing software permits you to design graphics, select type, space pages attractively, all from your desktop. It is like having your own printing plant!

• Managing Projects. When you run your business, you seem to go from project to project. Time management is essential to maximizing your output, particularly if you are the only employee. A new category of software, Personal Information Managers (PIMs), has come into the marketplace to help you organize your time. Programs such as Lotus Organizer and Borland's Sidekick act like electronic daytimers, providing the ability to print out customized schedules, to-do lists and reminders.


• Making Contacts. It is great to be able to connect to someone else when you have a question about your business or want to discuss a terrific new idea. Often the quickest way to do this today is via an on-line service, such as Compuserve, America Online or Prodigy. Compuserve and America Online feature small business bulletin boards where information can be quickly exchanged by typing it through your computer keyboard. Even the US Small Business Administration has gotten into the act with its free bulletin board: SBA Online.


• Sharing Information. In addition to talking to others on bulletin board services, you may wish to exchange a proposal you have created in your computer with an associate on The West Coast. This can be done almost at the speed of light by using a modem and its accompanying software to link your computer with a second computer via telephone lines. Modems can be programmed to transmit at night, long after you have left for the day or to send the same message to dozens of people simultaneously.


• Sales Presentations. If you worked in a typical large corporation in marketing, you probably remember the three or four weeks it took your promotion department to put together a professional slide show. With new software, such as Microsoft Power Point, Harvard Graphics and WordPerfect Presentations putting together an eye-catching slide presentation is surprisingly simple to do.

 How to Get Started

 Preparing to buy a computer is one area where it really pays to ask a lot of questions first. The wide variety of prices and features offered in the Sunday newspaper ads can be very confusing if you don't have some basic education first.

 Probably the first question you want to ask is: Should I buy a MM or IBM-compatible computer or one from Apple Computer? There is no one operating characteristic that definitely separates these two, but instead these two types run software differently.

 Basically, the Apple Maclntosh line controls the use of software through a series of pictures, called "icons." When you turn on the computer a master screen, called the desktop, shows you all of the programs loaded onto your computer. To turn any one of them on requires only that you click the mouse twice on top the symbol. It is very easy to move from one program to another.

 Several years ago, in an attempt to make IBM-style computers as easy to use as Maclntosh's, a new program called Windows was introduced. You undoubtedly know that the latest version, Windows 95, was just rolled out.

 I must admit a serious bias in favor of the Maclntosh. When I started my business seven years ago, I knew practically nothing about personal computers. And I have never liked to read instruction manuals. A former Apple employee, who made it sound like it ran itself, introduced me to the Maclntosh. Well, not quite, but pretty darn close. Rarely have I had to read much of the instruction manual in order to get the software to work.

 I would suggest that you go to a competent neighborhood computer store that sells MMstyle computers and ask them to review the basic operating requirements. Then visit a Maclntosh dealer--one of the main ones in the Chicago area is Computize--and ask for the same analysis. Go home and think about what a typical day is like for you and how aggravating or not these main features are.

 It should be noted that Apple has only a 10% share of the marketplace, so there are many more IBM-style computers out there. This means that the software variety available for MM types is much larger than for Maclntosh. Something to think about.

 Once you have decided upon the type of computer--IBM-style or Apple--then you need to bone up on the key words used by sellers of computers. Go to a bookstore and ask for a good, basic computer text which describes the parts of a computer. Armed with this knowledge you are ready to go shopping! Just one word of advice, write down all of the features of each machine and the prices.

 Mistakes to Avoid

•  Don't do too much all at once. Try computerizing your word processing first and become comfortable with the basic keyboard commands before you try to install your accounting on computer.


• Don't forget that the computer is a tool, not a toy! Don't spend endless hours trying to make something work. Get a teacher to show you how or farm the work out to an outside contractor.


• Always buy the maximum speed and power you can afford.


• If you have employees, consider their personalities when buying a new system of new software. How quickly do they learn? Don't expect the impossible to happen!


• When hiring, make it very clear in the ad if the employee will mainly work with computers. Don't shock them later.


• Keep your computer clean.


• Always copy important files onto a disk at least once a week and put the disk in a safe place.

There are few opportunities in a small business to feel such an overwhelming sense of accomplishment as when you have gotten your desktop publishing program to print out an absolutely top-notch brochure for your business--all by yourself.

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