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“To a person whose only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
“To a person whose only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” I’m not sure who said this first, but it is so true. It’s pretty obvious that you need the right tool for the right job. In fact, it’s almost a self-evident truth but many people miss it, especially in the complex world of business online.
There are so many tools to choose from – and the process of choosing and learning new tools can easily become confusing and overwhelming. Many people find it too hard or too much trouble to stay on top of change and so they only use tools they know about.
And it’s not just business owners who struggle to keep up. There a lot of IT and web companies who are still using and recommending old tools and old systems, often because they have blinkers on and only want to use the tools they know.
No one can be a specialist in everything, and so people choose to work with particular tools and sets of tools. That’s all fine and normal, but it can cause grief if and when the wrong tool is used for a task. Sometimes the grief i
Suppliers need more tools than hammers
The other day I found myself in a meeting with a graphic design firm that was engaged to build a website for a company I am guiding and advising. (The company called me in because the web re-development project was going off the rails.) The content management system being proposed by the graphic design firm included a module for email newsletters, and it may have been quite a good tool a few years ago when it was built – but these days there are smarter and better tools for running email newsletter.
The graphic design firm was recommending a system they knew and felt comfortable with, but did it have the functionality needed by my client? Well, it turns out the answer was Yes and No. It would have done part of what they needed now, but could have caused grief within the next six months or so. Fortunately, we were able to work through the issues and get it sorted out.
Customers need to recognize when suppliers only have a hammer
A lot of business people try to save money on web development and buy from firms whose systems may be cheap but are so basic they don’t offer a lot of choice, growth capability, self-management or flexibility later on.
The other day I was having a chat with a business owner who had a cheap website built a couple of year ago. When I asked him how it was working for him, he said it was terrible.
“It was cheap to buy as it was a template system,” he said, “but now I’m stuck in a contract with a web site that is not working for me. It costs an arm and a leg to get the web company to update it as I can’t update it myself. I think it was the only type of website that the web firm were able provide me.”
Of course this guy could have chosen a different website supplier back then and he definitely will next time. Now he knows that all websites are not the same and all website development firms are not the same.
I can help put him in touch with other website suppliers in his local area and also some really good reputable and reliable suppliers off-shore who can do a far better job for the same sort of money he paid before.
People don’t know what they don’t know – and learning as you go along can get expensive, especially with wasted time, money and opportunities. It can also get pretty darn stressful – and it is avoidable. Having an experienced guide to assist you can be helpful and valuable to save time, money and stress…
Many suppliers only have one core area in which they work, and a hammer may be all that is needed if it’s only a nailing job to be done. Good suppliers generally have a variety of tools they can use.
“To a person whose only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” When you are looking to do better business online, it pays to recognize when a supplier only has a hammer in their toolbox.
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