The first step in any implementation of online presence, whether it be a new website, social media or even a new product, is to determine what you actually want to achieve from having it.
Step 1 - Develop your business plan first
It might sound boring but don't start a technology strategy until you can answer these questions:
- What is your business mission: what do you do? Why do you do it? For which target market do you do it for?
- What is your business vision: where do you see your business going in the future?
- What are your business values: by which principles and morals do you operate your business?
- What are you good at: what are the key skills and experience you have?
- What does your target market want: do you have research indicating (potential) customers would want you to have a website presence? What would they do on the website?
- How do you differentiate: what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to your business?
- How do you compare: if you look at your target market wants and needs, and your SWOT, where are your gaps? Do you have a perfect strength to align and promote to a customer's need? What challenges do you foresee?
- What are your strategic goals: broadly, what are the things that help you achieve your business vision?
*** Activity ***If you don't know who, what, why and how your business operates the way it does, you and anyone helping you develop a business technology strategy will have a hard time defining which technologies you actually need and which ones will bring you success. If you don't know the answers to the above questions, go through them now and write down your answers. Take your time and then use these answers in your business plan. Expect an activity like this to take at least a full day of uninterrupted time. Or do it gradually over the course of a week to allow yourself some 'subconscious thinking time' to nut out the details. |
Step 2 - Understand what is out there
Now you know who you are, what you broadly want to achieve, what your strengths and weaknesses are and how these marry to your customer's needs, you need to undertake some research on the technologies available to you.
To achieve this you could:
- Brainstorm with a friend, consultant or mentor. Think about the ways you could use technology to take your business from where it is today, to where you want it to be in three years time.
- Visit local electronics and computer shops and talk to the salespeople about what new business-related technologies have been released recently.
- Search the web for your industry's technology innovation and subscribe to technology websites that cater specifically for your industry.
- Work with a Consultant to come up with a customised plan for your specific business.
Step 3 - Add a technology strategy section to your business plan
The final step is to answer the following questions:
- How will you achieve your strategic goals (Step 1 above) with technology?
- What are your objectives in using or implementing the technology?
- What is your action plan?
Check out the Resources section for templates you can download and use