So even though it's early in the year, I thought I'd present a would-be entrepreneur with a little holiday gift. Here are five products that business owners need now. Is there anybody out there?
1. Computers that turn on.
Why do I feel like I'm powering up a nuclear generator station every time I want to restart my computer? Why can't it just turn on like a TV set? How come I can't flick a switch and it's ready to go like the phone in my house? Why do my people have to sit there, wasting time filing their nails, while our "powerful" desktop computers go through a series of agonizing machinations just to get us to where we can start using them? We need computers that are ready to work when we are. We're losing a lot of time and money sitting around waiting for them to catch up.
2. Voice recognition for CRM (customer relationship management) and accounting software.
Here's a startling fact: not everyone is really, really super awesome and kick-butt with computers like you computer programmers are. There are some excellent salespeople, customer service agents, and accountants who are very good at what they do but not that great at typing or negotiating through the ever-expanding and redundant lists of useless features that technology firms jam down our throats.
We need something easy. And there's nothing easier for a sales guy on the road than simply picking up the phone, saying "met with John, and he told me to call him next Tuesday," and having his CRM or sales software understand him and record the activity. There's nothing easier for the CFO on the road than saying "email me a report of last month's sales, sorted by salesperson" and having his accounting software just...do it.
Come up with a really great way to bark an order or two (thousand) at a business software application instead of typing, clicking, tabbing, and zooming...and watch it become like gold.
3. PDAs that are like laptops.
Those cell phone companies would like us to think that we can do it all on a PDA, but we know better. PDAs are not laptops. Synching contact information to them is about 95% effective...at best. Getting that critical order or inventory information when you need it on the road is still not happening.
Too many of us find ourselves lugging around laptops, finding a Starbucks, and connecting to our networks to get email and check orders. Create a PDA that will not cause us to go blind or inflame our arthritic fingers. Make it connect really fast to the Internet. Make it easy to find our computer software, and let us operate through the phone.
4. A great report writer.
Whenever a software vendor says to you "well, that report you want isn't there, but you can always write it," run for the hills. Report writing is a major exercise and not for the faint of heart. You need to have a very deep understanding of databases and a strong working knowledge of the report-writing software.
My clients have tried, thrown up their hands, and then been forced to pay our outrageous hourly fees to save the day and write them the reports they need. Business owners grumble at this all the time. Can you blame them? Maybe this isn't a report exercise so much as a search exercise (hello, Google?).
Come up with an easy-to-use (see "voice recognition" above) report writer so that the poor common man can get data from his system easily, and you'll have a license to print money.
5. An effective spam and virus killer.
Whenever someone asks me to recommend a good spam and virus software, you know what I say? "Train your people better." Why? Because there isn't a really good spam and virus killer.
Spam and viruses still get through. Legitimate email gets mistakenly snagged. Money is spent on annual fees to renew flawed software. More fees are spent on consultants to install, configure, then upgrade, then figure out why it doesn't work, then recommend another application...the list goes on, and the business owner keeps paying.
I've found it to be much cheaper to just wade through emails once or twice a day and delete them than to deal with all of the nonsense brought on by trying out ineffective technology. I'd like to suggest how to go about doing this, but like pollution, the common cold, and Britney Spears, I suppose spam and viruses are things we're all just going to have to live with for a long, long time.
About the Author:
Gene Marks is the editor of the recently published Streetwise Small Business Book of Lists (Adams Media, 2006) and the owner of The Marks Group, PC, a technology consulting firm based outside of Philadelphia. Gene's column, The Penny Pincher's Almanac, can be seen nationally in American City business journals. His website can be found at www.pennypinchingtips.com.
