Less Is More…Keep Things Simple…Relax
I have always been a computer tech at heart. I would solve technical problems by tackling them in an orderly and chronological sequence. There are a couple of ways to solve a problem, but usually only one or two correct ways.
Unfortunately, running a business doesn’t always work that way.
Random things happen to upset the ordered apple cart. Clients have bad days and take it out on you and you cannot find a logical explanation as to why things just aren’t going your way.
The secret to running a successful business, in my opinion, is by keeping things as simple as possible. Do not clutter your life with unnecessary and confusing applications. Do not employ more staff than you need, the fewer the better. If you do not know how to do something, or if it’s not really important, get someone else to do it or outsource it. Do not continuously bash your head against a wall of problems if you can simply change the way you do things. Be quick to make decisions and don’t regret it if things don’t always work out the way they’re supposed to. That’s life and that’s business.
Try to take a step back and look at your business holistically, see the forest and not just the trees. This includes the tools you use in your business, from your Remote Monitoring and Management Tools to your Accounting software and Office Suite. Do not cause unnecessary stress and confusion to yourself and your staff by introducing new applications into your business on a daily basis. Your business shouldn’t be your lab. Test things on a small scale and make sure that it’s absolutely necessary before rolling it out to the entire company and client base.
Finally, you need to take breaks…..often. You need to learn to relax more. Take an early lunch and chill out on the golf course or practice your hobby. If you can’t, you better start getting the processes in place to allow the business to run without you.
Patience Is A Virtue
Finally, let me not kid you on this one; sales cycles with managed services are long. It could take up to six months in some cases. Sure, you get the odd company with many issues that need you to get them out of their mess right then and there. However, convincing new prospects to sign up for a service that costs double to three times more than a normal break/fix contract takes some doing. Then, you still have to convince them every month that they are getting value for what they are paying for.
But, as with all things in life, there is a simple answer. We’ll get into the nitty gritty in later articles. This is also where I want to re-iterate that you can never, ever deliver perfect service or a perfect product or a perfect report or a perfect whatever. But you can deliver something, which is better than delivering nothing at all. Sound confusing? Don’t worry, you’ll get it later.
Original Article Posted at http://www.msppractice.com/
