Going digital is all the rave now. You might feel that you're missing out and because of that, you want to go digital for your business. This is a bad, bad idea. I'm not telling you how to run your business, I'm just saying that it is not the best idea, fully based on our experience handling such cases before. Certainly do not join in just out of fear of missing out, or as they say now, FOMO. But other than that, ask yourself these questions before you take that hard-earned cash out of your pocket.

1. Do I have a clear goal?

Yes, this is a sign to not go digital, and it's no accident I put this first. People who don't have clear objectives of doing something are doomed to fail. Going digital is not a child's play. It involves so many moving parts, efforts, time, and money. We cannot afford to achieve nothing after everything has been said and done. Digitalization requires buy-ins from your stakeholders and more importantly your employees. Without a direction in mind, it would be hard to ask them to steer the way. Objectives need to be communicated clearly and transparently so that everybody knows what they need to strive towards to at the end of the day.

Also, when you don't have a clear goal, you don't know what metrics to track, so how can you know that you're successful?

2. Do I really need it, or there are more pressing issues?

A business needs analysis is when you find out what your business needsthe most and what are the actions that can solve the problems you have. You prioritize the biggest one, and you do what you can afford to do. If you haven't done the study, you don't know the issues your business have, and you haven't asked around what those may be, then you are far, far from going digital. 

For example, if you have a crushing cashflow issue, you really should be focusing on how to improve that as we speak, rather than reading this. You can't afford to spend time, money and effort going digital at this critical moment.

Or, even if you don't have that issue, you should know which area of your business that would be the best place to be improved when you have the resources. How do you decide that? Well, if that area is losing you a lot of time and money and solving the problems there would stop that, then that's how you decide. Or, if you know, for a fact, that improving a particular area would bring you significantly more money, then what are you still doing thinking?

Those are just examples, but you get the point. If you haven't done the study, then don't go digital, yet.

3. Do I have a project manager to run this?

As a boss, you do have somebody you can order to take up the project. But, if the person is reluctant, lacks experience, and  have insufficient skills and knowledge, then maybe you want to rethink your decision. Digitalization is a big, big project. It involves vendor management, stakeholders management, project management, and a lot of things involving money and processes as well. It is not something you can pass on to just anybody.

You'd be surprised to learn that we had employees of our one of our clients before quit because they were so overwhelmed with the extra responsibilities. So, if you don't have a strong team to handle it, then consider waiting until you do, or have a very strong implementation partner to help you. That goes a long way. But if you do find a good one, this is what you would say of them. https://www.aplikasi.us/blogs/case-studies/

4. Is my team ready for a change?

At the end of the day, the ones who will be using all the systems and automations are your employees. They are the end-users. It doesn't matter how advanced you think your business is going to be with digitalization if the people who would be using it won't use it. It is really, really important to get their say and include them in your decision-making. More so when the decision will impact them directly.

Find out if your team is ready for a change because you want it to be a change for the better, not a change for the worse. We can't stress enough how important this is. We've seen companies spent 6 figures on a highly intricate and modern solution just to be sidelined a year after! The reason? Yes, the employees were not consulted and they were obviously not ready for a change.

Conclusion

I hope with all these short points, you'll reconsider what you want to do. Digitalization is not all good depending on your situation. Alas, though at one time you have to do it, then you have to make sure you covered all these points to ensure you're set for it.

As always, good luck.