The cost of doing nothing: not investing in technology systems, people, and process processes is a recipe for a continued poor position in the economy to shrink and even become unprofitable. Simply, the cost of doing nothing on vital commodities: the inability to make products or services on a profit because of lack of demand or promotion. It is a throwback to earlier days when markets were the place to make money, not technology systems.
When businesses were new they had no need of hiring management consultants and other consultants, they built their businesses from scratch from raw materials and labor without hiring a management consultant. They had no need of standard jobs like accounting clerks, and marketing managers. This cost of doing nothing is embodied in our current organizational condition, where management is almost non-existent. The result is that companies are at risk of being left behind in competitive markets, forced to run their businesses on their own, at their own pace with little help from a consultant. This failure of a company to leverage technology is what is commonly known as the “cost of doing Nothing.”
What does all this have to do with the cost of doing nothing? The first thing we need to look at is the cost of not having a standardized process for data capture, which includes data capture on unstructured needs, such as customer surveys and requests for quotes/quote because standardization removes the cost of doing nothing. If this one small change is made, the cost of doing nothing will go down by about 30%. This means that if you are small and a start-up with very few employees and you are building your business from scratch and you are using a raw product, standard work processes will cost you less than half your current labor costs.
What about if your company is already built and the workflow is already set up? You might want to try to standardize the job and making it a priority. There are a lot of advantages to this. First of all, the small business owner who can’t standardize won’t have a big job on his hands and will be able to focus on running the business. Secondly, when you standardize your job and establish a work plan and goals, you will find that you have a clear idea of what you need to do to reach the end result. This gives you a clear sense of direction as well as less risk of going off course with your business idea.
Cost of Doing Nothing Number Three: The third major obstacle to business success is that of decision making. Again, this can be derived from the fact that most small businesses don’t use technology properly or have access to it at all. Whether you need to purchase your own software or whether you need to outsource the work, most business owners feel that technology is simply too complex for them to master easily. Even though there are many benefits to technology in today’s business environment, most small business owners feel that they need more input before they make a decision. If you think that a lack of decision-making and the accompanying cost of doing nothing are holding your business back, then you’re absolutely right!
Cost of Doing Nothing Number Four: One final cost of doing nothing is that of not being proactive in your efforts to keep your company running smoothly. If your company consists mainly of employees, you should consider installing emergency call centers and even better, video monitoring. You could even include voice mail so that your call center employees can actually hear and answer your customers. There are tons of ways to ensure that your small business stays on top of its game. And, when you finally realize that all those dollars you’re throwing away every year in unneeded charges are actually going to a real business asset rather than just a waste of time, you’ll likely change your ways and start looking for more efficient ways of saving money and ensuring that your business is more profitable than ever.