You Can't Be Everything to Everyone

Narrow your solutions offerings and focus on your core competencies, which will be the winning strategies for today's IT service firms.

By Stuart R. Crawford

Over my decade or so of serving the technology needs of SMBs, I have watched many solution providers blossom while others have crashed. Why? Especially in bad economic times, successful businesses understand the power of having extremely tight solution offerings. Companies that recognize this are now attempting to get back to the basics, which made them successful in the first place.

Many small businesses today are looking to simplify and "cut the fat." Complicated products and services are being replaced by solutions that are simple to use and require minimal training and investment, plus maintain or even improve productivity. Small business owners who can make these smart investments and at the same time find ways to keep the cost of support down are the ones who will survive and even thrive through the downturn--and they are looking for business partners to help them.

IT business owners who still baffle their prospects or clients with technical jargon and convoluted solutions will struggle to win new clients and keep existing business over those who truly put themselves in front as trusted business advisors. Business advisors are those who invest the time to learn about their prospects' or clients' businesses and design solutions that meet and even exceed the business needs of those companies.

SMBs today have many advisors that influence different aspects of their business. They wear many hats. They are experts in the products they sell or the services they offer. They look to outside advisors to assist them in making decisions that will have an impact on their business. You should be no different. You must be an advisor with specific solution offerings in which you have expertise. You must pick the clients that fit your model. It is a harsh reality that you cannot help every business, and that not every business can use you.

Keeps costs low and provide competitive offerings. With a narrow solution offering, becoming an expert in specific solutions becomes easier and allows for lower overall business costs. Training staff becomes less of an expense, and can often be done in-house. Focus your marketing efforts and nail down sales processes, both of which result in a lower cost of doing business.

Continually improve your strengths and outsource your weaknesses. A book that should be required reading for business owners is StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath. StrengthsFinder helps you to understand your strengths and the strengths of your team. It is a well-known benefit in business to hire employees who compliment your strengths or bring particular strengths to a team that have been missing. The same hold true for the solutions that IT professionals offer to clients. Focusing on your strengths and outsourcing or collaborating with others to shore up your weaknesses will improve your offerings.

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