Navigate Your Business with Software

A smart sailor will consider an investment in charts and navigation tools; like nautical slide rulers and a course plotter; to be money well spent. Sure, some may rely on the old tried and true methods of celestial navigation and calculate position with the stars and a compass, but those sailers are far and few these days. Today’s sailors admit ( like all of us today) that we love the convenience of electronic navigation--whether it's with a, electronic chart plotter, a GPS., or simply our computer. Why not nativage our businesses in the same way? With the proper tools. It is some of the best insurance you can buy.

Let’s use an analogy of a family taking a summer vacation and compare it to running a business.

If you don’t know where you are going, any destination will do. If you know where you want to go, a GPS will help ensure that you arrive at the right destination at the right time or allow you to know in advance that you will need to make alternative plans.

Brain Storming: All parties involved in the vacation must be considered and included in discussions.

    • In business this would be the CEO and senior management team.

Decision Making: The destination, duration, travel plans, timeline must be considered and decided upon.

    • In business this would be how big of a company do you want to grow, sales after a certain period, business goals; how you will accomplish and by when.

Written Plan: You need a formal plans to get to the agreed upon location. This would be a map of where you are going along with your notes and itinerary.

    • In business this would be a marketing and business plan.

Journey: To travel to your destination you would use a GPS. The GPS will keep you on course. The GPS would let you know the estimated time you will get there, the speed you are traveling at, alternative routes if there is construction or a problem, and let you know that you have reached your destination.

    • The GPS in the business world would be your management system. While the system could be paper based, it would have limited functionality in what it could do when you compare it to a computer software and web system (just like comparing a map to a GPS). The system would let you know where you are and where you are going. The system knows what your sales are, who your customers are and what they have purchased. Who your prospects are and a system to turn them into customers. A customer service system to keep your customers happy. A business dashboard that lets you see the status of your business at this point in time and whether or not you are on track.

No one wants a bad family vacation and likewise no business wants to fail. Make a plan and then use a GPS to navigate your way to success.