In March I wrote up: Quick Set Up of Fledgling Biz IT which described the quick brochure-ware site I put up with/for a client. That client and I have been meeting since then to work out his business plan and strategy. Yesterday, I presented a back office infrastructure plan which included everything from who he will use to buy domains, to his webcasting method, to how his accounting will connect to his Customer Relations Management system. Most of the services are cloud-based and billed monthly.
His start-up cost is around $2000 and his total expenditure for the 1st year comes to $5000. Monthly cost will only increase as he adds more employees, partners, customers, and consultants. He’s ready to scale (to about 50 employees) without having to disrupt his business processes. No servers and very few installs. He’ll have the tools and integrations of a big company right from launch at the price of what a brochure-ware customer used to cost.
So, please, don’t think of your website as a stand-alone entity. It can easily and cheaply be the center and foundation of your entire business. I didn’t mention what this new company does (consulting), because it doesn’t matter. Most companies (and non-profits) I dig into are quite a mess but can easily change. Most business can be broken down into a series of workflows that can usually be systematized, tracked, and integrated. Simplify, Automate, and then Integrate.