episode E2.003 Selecting Infrastructure Platforms

Introduction
Here we are in the last week of July and the first month of the 3rd Quarter is ending - how much closer are you to success?

If you have been with us all month, you know we have been railing against the politicians and bureaucrats for acting arbitrarily in response to the pandemic; and any illusion they are making data-based decisions should have been dispelled by now. This is not about a specific political party or group, it is about the arbitrary use of power at the expense of the most important global community - you.

People like us, Living the Life, employ 57% of the planet's population and yet are treated as the source of its problems. Not here, we celebrate the contribution you make to a better society and our focus is to improve your chances of success. 

This week we continue the new programming structure. We use a Balanced Scorecard to format our weekday shows: Finance (Monday) = Operations (Tuesday) + Sales (Customers) + People (Employees) with Fridays dedicated to Owners. Look at the week this way - Monday through Thursday is working IN the Present, Friday is working ON the Future.

Also, we just built a new community, our version of a Chamber of Commerce. Join Up and gain access to our Hosts and access our library of best practices.

Have a great business week.
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Show Objectives
Some big decisions need to be made early. You don't have to be perfect, just understand that the cost of switching platforms is not financial, it is the time expended to make sure everything is transferred and then dealing with the learning curve - it might not be fully operational for weeks or months.

Key Issues - ​Owner Perspective:

1. What are your immediate needs, what problems are you trying to solve.
2. What are your long term needs, what problems are you anticipating.
3. How well do the platform choices scale, can you build for the future or forced to change platforms. 
4. How well do the platform choices integrate - fewer is better.

What You Need to Know

• A clear picture of what the business will look like when it reaches its full potential - what you build in Stage III to achieve maximum results in Stage IV;
• Understand the critical issues:
  • Enter data once;
  • Accessible every where;
  • Control access based on position;
  • Information collected is easily accessible;
  • Automate functions to make doing the right thing easier;
  • What can you afford now;
  • Scalability - usually different levels (value ladders).
• What is the least number you can get by with right now.

What You Need to Do​

1. Blogging Platform
2. Web Platform
3. eCommerce Platform
4. Accounting Platform
5. Customer Relationship Management Platform
6. Social Media & Automating Platforms
7. Cloud Storage & Sharing
8. Project Management
9. Intranet

Shows

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