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Have you been given the task of finding, evaluating and recommending software for the small business where you work ?
It’s a great opportunity ahead of you but it also presents some risks and pitfalls that need watching. The search process itself can also be a big hidden cost. Here are a few things you should be aware of before you jump into the process…
Deciding on software for small business
- Owners or partners of a small business often delegate the software selection process to employees they see as more technically-savvy or more organised than most. Your job is to present a shortlist of recommended options, to help them make the final decision. Think of the task as a vote of confidence in you.
- Employees made responsible for software selection often feel overwhelmed and unsure where to begin. There are so many products available, and you may not have been through a process like this before. That’s normal.
- A sense of personal risk is often involved – this is a chance to prove yourself but conversely you don’t want to make a recommendation that backfires on you. You don’t want to be “that guy” who suggested buying the software everyone hates.
- Research shows that owners of a business choose software differently than managers. [ref 1] For instance, managers often think the price and popularity of a package are critical … but business owners rate those amongst the least important! Research suggests owners tend to be more strategic, considering more factors and weighing them differently than managers do when evaluating software.
What does this mean for you?
Firstly, it means you should take the task seriously because the owners of the business certainly will.
You should also look for ways to educate yourself about good software selection practices and involve outside experts or information sources if possible. Adhering to a solid process gives the owner confidence, and can help you manage the many stakeholders involved.
You should also discuss what the important factors are with your boss and other stakeholders, and ensure that you are transparent in how you arrived at your recommendations. This focuses the discussion on the evaluation process (not just the end outcome) and not only does it help you choose software more intelligently, it also protects you from any perceived personal risk.
How Software Shortlist can help
Software Shortlist provides a “shortlist + compare” tool that can help you recommend software for your business. It steps you through a more robust software evaluation process than small businesses typically use, but it is still simple and easy to use for non-IT experts.
Software Shortlist also gives you the flexibility to adjust the weighting of different factors (e.g. price, ease of use, scalability). So if your boss turns out to have a different view on priorities you can easily adjust your shortlist accordingly. Plus, we’ve screened out products that aren’t up to scratch and have conducted independent reviews on each software product included in the comparison service. User reviews are available too to give you an additional, external perspective.
Go find that software
I hope this post helps you understand a bit more about the challenge and opportunity ahead of you in choosing software for your small business.
Why not let us know how it goes, and share your thoughts or experiences below so others can benefit too?
[ref 1]: P.Y.K Chau “Factors use in the selection of packaged software in small businesses: Views of owners and managers,”Information & Management 29 (1995) 71-78
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Having just spent the past week here in Silicon Valley, we’ve had plenty of practice describing what Software Shortlist is, the customer need it serves, and how we deliver value. One thing that comes across loud and clear is that people understand the pain that small businesses face in choosing business software.
As a result, their questions were typically things like ‘will people pay enough to fund your service?’, ’how do you create the content cost effectively?’, and ‘how will you reach your customers?’
After all that, it was interesting yesterday to see a question posted on a LinkedIn discussion group that really captures the essence of the customer need we solve:
Wanted: online CRM program
Our business uses both a desktop CRM program and an online email marketing software program. Time to get “one-does-all” online program I think so we can create and follow the opportunities pipeline better.
Have been trawling the Internet but one after the other promises a lot, but don’t really feel like having to do xxx free trials to find the one that would suit us best.
Is anyone using an online CRM program they can recommend to a small business?
In our view, this quote really captures the essence of why customers need a service like Software Shortlist. Now we just need to expand the range of software we cover so we can help more people like this…
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The story begins…
Nearly 18 months ago, sitting in a cafe overlooking Melbourne’s scenic Yarra river, we were grappling with a perplexing question:
Why don’t many small businesses take full advantage of the powerful and cost-effective software solutions available?
Melbourne's Yarra River (photo: Edwin 11 on flickr.com)
We realised some of the great software we personally used (e.g. Basecamp, Campaign Monitor, SurveyMonkey) was simply not on the radar of many small and medium businesses … yet software like this could be so very useful for them.
As we pondered this situation, we found it opened up even more questions:
- Why do businesses persist for so long with cumbersome legacy systems or manual work-arounds?
- Why do businesses resort to custom software development that is many times more expensive and often less functional than off-the-shelf alternatives?
- Why do businesses settle for well-known generic software, when better, more specialised alternatives exist?
As the sun set over the river, an important realisation dawned on us – there’s a significant market failure here! The supply exists – there are tens of thousands of software products. And the demand for business software is stronger than ever. But the supply and demand aren’t connecting as they should. For some reason, businesses defer the decision, give up entirely, or make do with poor alternatives.
So, we asked ourselves, why is this?
- Is it that businesses don’t know what software is available? Perhaps, but Google, Yahoo and various software directories do a decent job of providing a long list of available software
- Is it a case of “list shock” or information overload? Maybe the act of searching brings back so many options that businesses owners get intimidated or overwhelmed by the software selection process?
- Maybe small businesses get discouraged by technical jargon and specialist language? Could it be that the “Curse of Knowledge” gets in the way of vendors communicating clearly to the potential customer?
- Perhaps the problem is a lack of comparable information on software? With only sparse information on search engines and software directories, does it take too long for businesses to trawl vendor websites and work out what each software package does and how it compares with other software?
The more we investigated, the more apparent it became that search engines are only a start, and the software directory model is broken (or at least flawed). The software directory mindset is “he with the biggest list wins”. But a long list of sparse and poorly comparable information is not useful for making decisions on software.
Inspiration strikes…
Then it hit us! We honed in on a critical insight:
Software decision makers need a short list, not a long list.
What business owners and decision makers need is a shortlist of the most relevant and promising alternatives for them to consider. Add in some apples-to-apples comparisons and detailed product information, and then you’ve got a great way to reach the right decision quickly on which software to buy.
Yarra River At Night (photo: Edwin11 on flickr.com)
And so, 18 months ago as the sun set over the Yarra river, we devised the initial concept for SoftwareShortlist as a free, online recommendation and comparison service for business software.
In the months that followed, we challenged key assumptions, spoke with software customers and vendors, mapped out a business model, started developing the website, and got to work reviewing software.
…and it now becomes reality
Today, our journey reaches an important milestone, as we announce the public beta launch of SoftwareShortlist.
Although the beta launch represents the culmination of nearly 18 months of hard work, even more importantly it also represents the beginning of the next stage for SoftwareShortlist. We have big plans for the future.
Today our beta service recommends and compares timesheet software for professional service firms and livestock recordkeeping software for farmers.
In coming months, we will expand coverage to other major software categories such accounting and customer relationship management (CRM), as well as a wide range of industry-specific applications.
Let us know what you think of the beta service – with your feedback and involvement, we can make SoftwareShortlist a great resource for businesses everywhere.
