Many business owners are sabotaging their business without even realizing it. They are completely out of the loop when it comes to all technology aspects of their operation such as websites, computers and software. They become completely dependent on their technical people and naively believe that things are "being taken care of".
This "head in the sand" approach is very dangerous. Here are just a few scenarios of what can happen:
So how do you protect yourself?
If you are now thinking that you need to become a computer geek yourself so you don't have to depend on anyone else - that could not be further from the truth. If you spend all your time digging through computer books, writing code and working on the technical details, there will be no time for you to run your business.
Doing it all yourself is not the answer. Everyone should concentrate on doing what they do best. What you need to do is just take some measures to protect yourself. Just knowing and applying these few basic things that I'm about to describe will put you a giant leap ahead of most other business owners.
Here are the things you should do:
Let me warn you: you will encounter a lot of resistance from the technical people when you make them document things. However, you need to be firm and require documentation as part of the project before you release the final payment.
Communicate all your requirements upfront. If you don't tell programmers or designers exactly what you want, they'll put together a project according to their own vision, which often does not correspond to yours.
Most problems with technical projects occur because of miscommunication.
The easiest thing to do to protect your data is to write those files to a CD on a regular basis. Also, don't forget to store those CDs in a secure location.
Many business owners have such fear of technology that they just don't want to understand the projects and hope that others will simply take care of everything. While you don't need to get involved in all the little technical details, you still need to understand the process and "the big picture".
Practice these simple strategies, and you'll find yourself having more control, more piece of mind and more money in your bank account.
Melanie Mendelson (c)2004
About The Author
Melanie Mendelson is the author of "Profitable Outsourcing": the insider's guide on how to get the highest quality technical work done for your business at dirt-cheap prices. Visit her site now at http://www.ProfitableOutsourcing.com
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