B Corporation Status

As part of our commitment to building a better world through technology, we have recently become a certified B Corporation. B Corporation is a new legal designation for companies that use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. In order to become a B Corp., we had to prove that our company meets high standards of social and environmental responsibility. We also had to commit to sustaining these ideals by writing them into our corporate by-laws. Learn more at www.bcorporation.net

Is Technology Hurting Your Business?

Your business relies on technology to run: customer databases, staff intranets, inventory systems, basic networking between all of your computers. However, all technology is not created equal. Sometimes a good solution can turn bad. This can happen when your business goals have shifted or if outside industry influences have changed the way you do business. Have reporting regulations changed? Has the type of customers you work with changed? Are your clients interested in new services that you haven't previously offered?

If you've been putting off spending money on technology solutions, ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you currently collecting client data that you can't analyze?
• Do you have two or more databases in the office that don't communicate but have vital information?
• Are you spending more time in meetings then getting actual work done?
• Does you staff have a shared web-based space to work on a project or are they constantly sending emails back and forth, never sure if they are working on the right version of a document?
• And finally, with today's web-based applications and programming sophistication, is there important client data you are not collecting that could help you make smarter business decisions?
• Are your technology solutions effectively helping your bottom line?

So how do you turn it around?

Start with an internal technology audit. Ask key staff to assess your current tools and discuss what's working and what's not. Do you have a staff member who's keeping up on web trends that might affect your clients? Marketers have been using SWOT for years, but it also works great for structuring an internal technology audit.

SWOT stands for: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Try these questions to help structure your conversation:

Strengths:

• What are you doing right?
• Have you done recent upgrades?
• Have you integrated your databases and created a tool that lets you mine useful customer data?
• Launched a Facebook page?
• Started a Twitter account?
• Made recent changes to your web site to take advantage of the web's social networking opportunities?

Weaknesses:

• How are you falling behind?
• Are your current technology tools hard to use?
• Is training new staff on your tools always a challenge?
• How is your technology helping or hurting your bottom line?

Opportunities:

• Would it be useful for clients to be able to view updates or interact easily with your site on the go (from their iphone or blackberry)?
• Are your clients and customers looking to you as a resource?
• Are you sharing the knowledge that they are looking for?

Threats:

• Are there business trends that will force you to change your business model?
• Have your competitor's moved beyond a brochure site?
• Are they using the web's social networking possibilities to expand their reach?
• What are some things that your competitors are doing right that you could learn from?

If doing an internal audit seems daunting, Singlebrook is currently offering a free tech audit to you, our clients, and also to any referrals you might have. The audit is valued at $275 but we are doing them free as a special limited opportunity. Why do it with us? We know technology and we know technology trends. We'll be able to offer you ideas and insights based on our experience that will help you continue to use technology in ways that maximize your company's success. If you are interested, contact us now, as we will be doing these audits for a limited time only.

To schedule your audit, just send an email to info@singlebrook.com or call us: 607-330-1493!