I often speak to non-technology company leaders about the endless possibilities technology offers and how it can practically solve any of their business problems. One of the most common objections I get is:
“We are not a technology company!”
That statement implies that developing company-specific technology is something only tech companies should do and ergo it’s not land they want to step in.
That, of course, makes complete sense at first sight - creating software or any other form of tech is expensive, takes time, requires specific resources and it’s overall a difficult job. Buying only off-the-shelf solutions should be easier and cheaper and overall a safer bet. Along with that, statistics show most software projects fail one way or another, why would the leadership risk it?
However, that company mindset leads down a path that I believe any business should avoid - being all the same! No matter the industry, today every company faces solid competition from all sides. Every existing industry is grossly saturated. Even innovative companies cannot stay alone for long and competition quickly picks up.
If you use the same internal operations software, sell your products via the same e-comm platform, use the same analytics tools as your competition, etc - are you really a different company?
Einstein has a popular saying that goes like this:
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results."
I believe it's 100% relevant for the state of most companies nowadays - you cannot be different and outperform your competition if you use the same toolset and overall do the same things your competition does.
Don't consider technology a commodity for running a business. It's rather a powerful tool for exploring alternative routes, being different, and achieving business goals.
I don't particularly like Gary Vee, but he uses a phrase:
"Every company should be a media company."
I like replacing media with technology since it's so valid as well - every company should be a technology company!
Technology today can allow you to completely revolutionize your production or service cycle in order to reduce cost and maximize efficiency. Technology today allows you to automate your operations like never before. Technology today allows you to create unique and better experiences for your users. Technology allows you to do better than your competition!