Business path
6 min read
Technology decisions for a small business
You do not need to become a programmer
If you run a shop, a studio, a clinic or a small tour business, technology can feel like a language everyone else speaks. You do not need to learn to code, and you do not need the newest tool everyone is talking about. You need a handful of good decisions, made calmly, that fit the business you actually have.
That is what this short path is for. It is written in plain language, it is free, and it assumes only that you know your own work. Read it in order, or jump to the part you need most right now.
What this path covers
Four things, each a common place where small businesses either save real time or run into trouble.
Getting found online. How customers look you up and decide to trust you, and the smallest steps that make the biggest difference.
Choosing tools you will not regret. How to pick apps and services so your data and your business stay free to move, instead of quietly getting trapped.
Protecting customer data. What you are responsible for when you hold information about the people you serve, and how to keep it safe without a technical team.
Being ready when something goes wrong. The security lessons and the talk-through drills on this site, which let you and your team practise a bad day before you ever have one.
Four principles that hold it together
The specific tools will change over the years. These ways of thinking will not.
Start from the problem, not the tool. Name the thing you are trying to do first, then find the simplest tool that does it. Buying a tool and then looking for a use is how businesses waste money and time.
Prefer boring, well-supported tools. A tool that many people use and that has been around a while is usually a safer bet than the exciting new one. Boring means someone can help you, and it will probably still be here next year.
Keep your data yours. Wherever your customer list, bookings and records live, make sure you can get them out and keep a copy you control. A whole lesson on this path is about exactly that.
You can always do more later. Do not try to solve everything at once. Take one good step, let it settle, then take the next. A small business that improves a little at a time beats one that stalls trying to do it all.
Try this now
Before you read on, write down the three business tasks you most rely on a computer or a phone for. Taking payments, messaging customers, keeping records, whatever they are for you. Keep that short list nearby. The rest of this path will make more sense, and be more useful, when you read it with your own three tasks in mind.
Where to go next
If customers struggle to find you, start with your first digital presence. If you already use several apps and worry about being stuck with them, read about choosing tools without lock-in. If you hold information about your customers, the lesson on protecting customer data is the one to reach for. None of them assumes the others, so begin where your business needs it most.
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