Does Your Small Business Need A Chief Technology Officer?
As a small business owner, you can probably recollect the moment when you had the inspiration and drive to make your business dreams a reality; when times were exciting and the future looked bright and full of promise. If you can remember that, then you can probably also recall the moment that you realised just how much you had taken on, and how as your business began to grow, your stress levels increased.
If you were sensible, at this point you would have sought professional help with the technology side of your business, as this would have significantly reduced your stress levels, and left you to focus on other important aspects of your business. If, however, you had simply continued to try to tackle your businesses technology needs yourself, then you’ll doubtless still need professional help.
That help usually comes in the form of a ‘CTO’ or chief technology officer, and they can help you with all aspects of your businesses tech needs.
What is a CTO?
A chief technology officer is responsible for such aspects of a business as:
Ensuring that current technology is operating as it should
Recommending new software, programs or devices to business owners
Helping to create technology strategies that will help the business to grow and be more successful
How will I know if it’s time to hire a CTO?
If you’re finding that the technological needs of your small business are taking up too much of your time and you’re unable to focus on other important elements of your business, then it may be time to hire the services of a CTO. Hiring a CTO will of course be an additional expense, but hire a good one, and they could end up saving you money and helping your business to expand in the right direction, not to mention reducing your stress levels.
Do I need a team of technology experts, or an individual CTO?
Hiring a CTO means that you’ll have an individual assigned to you, who will be on hand to answer all your tech based questions and assist daily with the technology needs of your business. A full time CTO can be very valuable, particularly if your business has a lot of technology problems that need to be solved, and if you can afford an additional salary, then hiring one is not usually a decision you’ll regret.
If you outsource your CTO position, you could pay a monthly fee to have a team of tech agents at your disposal, whenever a technological issue arises within your business. There are many tech companies who employ their own CTO’s that can be made available for small businesses in advisory roles, and this is often a significantly cheaper option than hiring a full time CTO.
As any small business owner will know, technology is becoming an increasingly significant factor of a company’s success or failure, and not recognizing and acting upon this, will only ever be to your detriment.
A CTO will help your business become technology sound, and could even help you to increase your profit margins, meaning that hiring one becomes an investment, rather than a cost that you think you can’t afford.
