There are thousands of tools available to streamline your business, save you hours and increase your output but they are all flawed, imperfect and need you to adapt to their methodology.
So how do you choose the best tool for your project?
If you’re in any groups, you’ll hear recommendations, see training sessions on tools and read people passionately telling you that their particular tool can bring huge benefits. Do you choose software based on recommendations, based on cost, based on having access to training?
From working with thousands of businesses, I think the major factor should be having a tool that fits your work style. It should fit within your budget, it should deliver value above the ongoing cost, it should be well-designed and as simple as possible but primarily, does it help you work calmly and have a clear picture of the past, present & future?
I’ve worked with companies throwing thousands of dollars at Infusionsoft, happily using whiteboards, loving the checklists in Asana, running calendars in Sunsama, loving webforms in Podio, happily pulling out their paper diaries, tagging away in Simplenote, syncing social data with Nimble, selling products with Gumroad, selling subscription boxes via email and setting up payment pages with Moonclerk.
They’re all making their lives easier and harder in some ways but they can see how the machine works, know how to adjust the parts and know that work is getting done.
It’s all imperfect but at S&P we don’t judge people for stringing together the best tools they had available at the time. They’re busy and they’re getting stuff done. Then they get enough of a break one day to step back and see that they could do things a little cleaner, a little faster. It’s at this point that we step in, do a friendly audit and get them a project plan for building a stronger machine, with a clean windscreen & panoramic view, for the journey ahead.
David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done, coined the term to describe one of the core steps of his “fundamental process”: Write down a project or situation that is most on your mind at this moment. Now describe in a single written sentence your intended desired outcome for this problem or situation. What needs …
We’ve built dozens of intranets & extranets for companies, utilising a huge number of custom features. Let’s have a look at what features you might need and what an intranet is. What features should an intranet have? We often get asked by clients: What makes an engaging intranet that my staff will use? What features …
I feel your pain on this one. Although it’s become so much easier to create and send out email newsletters using tools like Mailchimp, Mailmunch, Convertkit and Drip, it’s still quite fiddly to look through all the specs, work out the pricing (do I pay per list or per subscriber?) and then look at the …
I had this question recently and want to dive a little deeper into it that the standard list post of DIY online course platforms. Just in case, if you don’t have time to read the deeper why behind choosing an online course hosting platform, go and check out (in this order): Teachable (free plan then $39 …
A clear picture – the major factor in choosing software
There are thousands of tools available to streamline your business, save you hours and increase your output but they are all flawed, imperfect and need you to adapt to their methodology.
So how do you choose the best tool for your project?
If you’re in any groups, you’ll hear recommendations, see training sessions on tools and read people passionately telling you that their particular tool can bring huge benefits. Do you choose software based on recommendations, based on cost, based on having access to training?
From working with thousands of businesses, I think the major factor should be having a tool that fits your work style. It should fit within your budget, it should deliver value above the ongoing cost, it should be well-designed and as simple as possible but primarily, does it help you work calmly and have a clear picture of the past, present & future?
I’ve worked with companies throwing thousands of dollars at Infusionsoft, happily using whiteboards, loving the checklists in Asana, running calendars in Sunsama, loving webforms in Podio, happily pulling out their paper diaries, tagging away in Simplenote, syncing social data with Nimble, selling products with Gumroad, selling subscription boxes via email and setting up payment pages with Moonclerk.
It’s all imperfect but at S&P we don’t judge people for stringing together the best tools they had available at the time. They’re busy and they’re getting stuff done. Then they get enough of a break one day to step back and see that they could do things a little cleaner, a little faster. It’s at this point that we step in, do a friendly audit and get them a project plan for building a stronger machine, with a clean windscreen & panoramic view, for the journey ahead.
Related Posts
Fundamentals: Next Action Step
David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done, coined the term to describe one of the core steps of his “fundamental process”: Write down a project or situation that is most on your mind at this moment. Now describe in a single written sentence your intended desired outcome for this problem or situation. What needs …
Need someone to build your company intranet?
We’ve built dozens of intranets & extranets for companies, utilising a huge number of custom features. Let’s have a look at what features you might need and what an intranet is. What features should an intranet have? We often get asked by clients: What makes an engaging intranet that my staff will use? What features …
I hate email marketing but want to publish a free newsletter
I feel your pain on this one. Although it’s become so much easier to create and send out email newsletters using tools like Mailchimp, Mailmunch, Convertkit and Drip, it’s still quite fiddly to look through all the specs, work out the pricing (do I pay per list or per subscriber?) and then look at the …
What is the best platform for hosting your online courses and why?
I had this question recently and want to dive a little deeper into it that the standard list post of DIY online course platforms. Just in case, if you don’t have time to read the deeper why behind choosing an online course hosting platform, go and check out (in this order): Teachable (free plan then $39 …