- What is the one thing this has to do well?
- Who has to use it, and will they?
- Can you get your data out if you leave?
- What does it cost at three times your current size?
Example conversation with Technology
You
Choosing between two job management systems. Four staff, mostly domestic work. Honestly, what would I notice?
Technology
At four people, almost none of the feature comparison matters. Three things do.
Will the engineers use it on a phone, in a loft, with gloves on? If not, you will be typing their jobs in yourself and you have bought a second job.
Does it talk to your accounts package? If not, you are rekeying every invoice.
Can you export everything if you leave? Ask before you sign, not after.
Whichever wins on those three, take it. The rest is noise at your size.
Want me to check whether either integrates with what you already use?
Will the engineers use it on a phone, in a loft, with gloves on? If not, you will be typing their jobs in yourself and you have bought a second job.
Does it talk to your accounts package? If not, you are rekeying every invoice.
Can you export everything if you leave? Ask before you sign, not after.
Whichever wins on those three, take it. The rest is noise at your size.
Want me to check whether either integrates with what you already use?
It refused the feature comparison and asked whether the team would use it.
Paste this to THEO
I am choosing between [option A] and [option B] for [what it is for]. My business is [size and type]. Be honest about what I would actually notice day to day.
Try it on your business
Every lesson ends with a question to hand to a Greymill specialist, who answers with what it knows about your business.
More in Process, time and tools
- Working out what to stop doingFor owners doing sixty hour weeks with nothing to show for it.Read the lesson
- Stopping the same mistakeThe third time it happens, it is a system problem.Read the lesson
- Scheduling work you can actually deliverOvercommitting is the most common way a good business damages its reputation.Read the lesson