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Monday, March 8th, 2010
6 reasons small businesses shouldn't use big-business softwareBy Tyler King
We recently decided that this blog should focus on the technology needs for small businesses. You might wonder why a small business shouldn't just use the same tools as bigger companies, so this post will outline just a few of the reasons.
In case you're not sure what we mean by "big-business software", here's a trick: you can normally tell the target market for software by looking for annoying acronyms and buzz words. If software is described as an "enterprise-level data-driven ERP solution", that means it's meant for giant companies. At giant companies, decisions are made by people that want to feel like they're doing something really complicated, and software vendors know how to pander to that audience.
We'll write a lot more on the topic in future posts, but companies like Oracle, SAP and even Microsoft make most of their money by selling to huge corporations, and they simply don't offer products that are right for small businesses (most of the time). Here are six reasons why you should look elsewhere for your technology needs:
You don't want to overpay This is the easiest of these reasons to measure. Big companies have a lot of money, and software vendors want as much of it as possible. Most small businesses simply can't afford to use "enterprise-level" (read:overpriced) software. One easy way to tell if a company is charging too much is if they don't publish their prices online. If you go to a website to buy a product and you can't tell how much it costs without talking to a sales rep, you can bet it's way too expensive.
You don't need all those features
Big-business software is meant to do everything. This sounds like a good thing until you try to actually use it and you can't figure out how because it's too complicated. Your software should do what you need it to do, and anything extra is just unnecessary clutter. This is also related to the price issue, because even if you're not using all the features, you're still paying for them.
You don't have an I.T. team
We've already said that big-business software is complicated, but that doesn't just impact the users. The more complex the software gets, the more work is generally required to set it up and keep it running. Big companies have large I.T. departments to take care of everything, but who's going to be responsible at your company when your fancy new server crashes? You won't be taken seriously
If a software company is used to serving large clients, why would they spend their time worrying about you? Most big-business software companies won't even talk to you without knowing how many employees work at your business, and they obviously aren't going to treat you quite the same as they would a larger client.You're lucky enough to have a choice
Many people assume that the tools used at large companies are better than the ones used at smaller companies. They cost more, they have fancy buzz words, and large corporations must know what they're doing when it comes to software purchasing. This couldn't be further from the truth. Many large companies are still using horribly outdated software (like IE6) because it takes a tremendous investment for a large company to make even a small change. You have the ability to avoid all that endless bureaucracy.
Software can be one of your competitive advantages I wrote an earlier post about how trying to copy the big guys is a mistake. By assuming that you should use the same tools as big companies, you're effectively deciding to play the game using their rules. In order for a small company to succeed, they need to be disruptive. If you're lucky enough to work at a small company (or run your own company), you can gain a serious edge on your competition by using technology in ways that they can't. The main point that I want to make is that you should celebrate the fact that you don't have to use big-business software. Hopefully if you keep reading this blog, we can help you decide what you should use instead.
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About this blog
This blog helps small businesses find and use easy, effective software. Most technology is meant
either for individual consumers, or huge corporations. We'll help you find the tools that are
powerful enough to help run your business, but simple enough that you can start using them by
yourself.
This blog is written by the co-founders of Less Annoying Software. We build an easy customer management tool that helps small businesses organize customer information and track leads. If you have any feedback about this blog, please feel free to contact us.
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