We’ve all done it. And most other business owners are doing it, too. What is “it”? Succumbing to the promise of “there’s an app for that” and registering for technology of all kinds – and then not using them. You should review and curate your tech stack at least once a year. Why? Because in business, plans often change. Priorities change, new challenges arise, and new opportunities appear. Curating your tech stack annually is just good business.
Curating isn’t simply about getting rid of products and services that aren’t meeting your needs it’s also about mindfully adding technology that will help your business to grow (if that’s your goal), help you provide better customer service, and help you manage your business in a way that, one hopes, frees up your time for other activities whether those activities are business- or life-related. Nevertheless, it’s often necessary to clear bandwidth-sucking technological clutter before shifting our focus to identifying problems that tech can solve. Too much tech clutter (like too much physical clutter) can prevent you from seeing problems (and potential solutions) clearly.
Additionally, this is an activity that can cut unnecessary expenses from your bottom line and improve upon technological advances. It is possible since the time you first subscribed to an application that there are better, cheaper alternatives.
Here’s what to consider step-by-step to grow your take home pay and improve your business practice.
A Solution in Search of a Problem
The first step in the curation process is to list every single piece of technology the business is using and then review the list to identify tech solutions your business is not using at all or using extremely infrequently. Evaluate each application or service that has not been used (or that was only rarely used) and consider why it was not used. For example, have business priorities shifted? Maybe the product was intended to facilitate additional revenue streams. In a tax business this could be bookkeeping, payroll, forensic accounting, or representation, and you must decide why you no longer need to or are no longer interested in that type of revenue. If that is the case, that product or service can be removed from the tech stack along with any other products and services you no longer have an existing or potential need.
A good place to start are your credit card statements. Most software as a service (SAAS) these days charge a subscription fee either monthly or annually. You may not remember you’re even still paying for services you either have never used or haven’t used since you lost that initial spark of interest.
You want to know what I got rid of this year? My third party authorization software for the IRS. It’s a great product. And reasonably priced. But between the vendor’s efforts to expand their market and my transition toward retirement, the app has rapidly outgrown the targeted problem —at least in my practice. I’m not looking to grow the representation side of my business nor am I actively pursuing “concierge level” clients for proactive monitoring of IRS accounts, etc. Consequently, despite that I found the product useful over the past few years, I decided that it (and the emails that come with it) could go. This particular piece of my tech stack had become a solution in search of a problem.
You may have at one time subscribed to a synchronization tool to help connect your online banking and accounting records. Most banks now offer this ability built-in, without a need for third-party software. In fact, a very common example is calendaring sync tools. Many automated scheduling programs integrate directly with Outlook or Google Calendar and while you may have depended on a sync tool in the past, it is no longer necessary. If you’re like me, you’re not actively reading each email from all your software providers or staying up to date on what the latest version offers. Going through this process on a regular basis incentivizes me to do this work.
More Solution Than Necessary
Next, consider each product you’re using at only a fraction of its capabilities. Why aren’t you using the product more? Maybe the product has a steep learning curve. Maybe it has grown during the years since you first bought it into something that is much more than what your business requires. Again, maybe your business priorities have shifted and you no longer need to accommodate potential growth (at all or at the level you had in prior years) or additional types of revenue streams.
One important consideration for evaluating whether a particular piece of technology is more than necessary is your own philosophy about integration. Do you prefer programs to be as much of a “one stop shop” as possible? Using a small number of highly featured products from one or two large vendors can minimize the bandwidth devoted to maintaining the subscriptions, minimize email clutter, simplify staff training, and provide a more consistent user experience.
On the other hand, this high level of integration can mean that when one of your main vendors experiences a shut-down level glitch, a good portion of your business activities can grind to a halt. For example, if you are using one vendor for office products (e.g., spreadsheets and word processing), email, calendaring, video conferencing, etc. and that vendor experiences a major problem (remember the problems last year at Amazon and Facebook?) your work can come to a standstill, let alone work efficiently.
Curating your tech stack means considering your priorities and your risk tolerance and deciding where your perfect balance lies. Usually, the perfect solution is somewhere between minimizing all tech clutter versus keeping all of your tech eggs in one basket.
Another consideration for less than fully used products and services is (again), your goals. Perhaps this product or service is one that you are planning to learn piece by piece as you grow into it. When that is the case and as long as you are happy with the product, the vendor’s customer service, and the price, then that’s a product you keep.
However, if you bought a product in its early stages and it has now grown into a multi-tentacled behemoth that is way beyond the needs of your business, your annual tech stack review is the time to identify different products that better meet your needs. Yes, changing products is a drag, but so is paying for a product that has features you never plan to use and/or don’t have time to learn.
Solutions for the Most Important Problems
Curating isn’t simply letting go of the technology you are not using or where the ROI isn’t what you want it to be. Curating includes mindful acquisition of technologies that will help make your business more efficient whether your goal is to make room for growth or to make room for life beyond work. That’s why it’s OK to keep those fully featured or evolving products that you intend to grow into, but it’s also OK to stop paying for products you purchased to meet a need you no longer have.
Once you’ve cleared some of the tech clutter (and the bills and bandwidth that go with it), the final step in curating your tech stack is to identify one to five problems[1] that your current tech stack could solve if you just took the time to learn the necessary features or that a new product could solve if you took the time to find the right product. For example, the one product I bought, paid for but didn’t use for over a year and now cannot live without is my mass-mailing software subscription.
During my annual tech stack review, I decided the goals I had for the product were still in place (communication more than marketing) and I needed to either start using it or stop paying for it. I committed to using it to communicate with my clients during tax season. I now use it regularly to remind them about deadlines and to keep them up to date on turnaround times for return processing.
Guess what? “Where’s my stuff?” calls and emails in my tax practice are virtually non-existent. And my clients feel better taken care of and I’m more responsive. That’s a technology win. Last year, I decided the one problem I needed to solve was the back and forth involved with scheduling client appointments. I took the time to find and implement online calendaring software and, while it hasn’t been completely seamless, most of my clients have used it without problems and it has saved an enormous amount of administrative time. Again, big win.
With so much choice and price competition, it is vital to consider your customer experience and journey. This can be accomplished very inexpensively with technology. That problem I mentioned earlier with email communication? It actually improved my customers’ experience with very little effort and cost from me. A real win for everyone.
Conclusion: Finding Better Solutions
During your annual review, consider all aspects of each application or service. Are they still solving the problems you purchased them for? Are they easy for your staff to learn and use? Are client-facing apps helping or hindering your clients? When apps are too difficult to use or buggy, that reflects badly on your business and your brand. Consider the ROI in client satisfaction if you take the time to find something that your clients will find simpler or more satisfying to use. Consider if the price point is right for you and if you expect it to remain that way. Sometimes a product or service expands beyond your business’ needs and budget, and it’s time to find a different approach.
Clearly, sometimes the best solution is no solution at all. Start by eliminating unnecessary or grossly underused applications and services from your tech stack. Next, evaluate the remaining apps and services to decide if they still meet your needs or whether a simpler or more fully featured solution is desirable. Finally, take a look at one or more problems you want to solve in the coming year and determine whether one of your existing products can solve it (or them) or if you need to find a new product. Committing to an annual review of your tech stack will ensure you’re making the best use of the best technology available to your business, and optimizing your business’ use of technology will help you meet your goals more quickly and efficiently.
Follow Amber Gray-Fenner’s entire “Just Good Business” series:
What to Consider When Choosing an Entity
When it’s Time to Hire a Pro
https://thinkoutsidethetaxbox.com/articles/just-good-business-when-its-time-to-hire-a-pro/
Partners in a Real Estate Deal? Think Twice Before Forming That LLC
Review Your Beneficiary Designations
https://thinkoutsidethetaxbox.com/articles/just-good-business-review-your-beneficiary-designations/
Review Your Fixed Asset List for Hidden Deductions
[1] The number of problems to identify should correlate to the challenge’s relative size. For example, you could choose to solve one or maybe two large problems or four or five smaller ones.
