Here is a way you can Catch all those great ideas you have for your business. Saasu helps you apply a system to them, making sure the right ones get used in your business. It’s all too easy to inadvertently add complexity to your business.

Saasu Activities - An IDEAS Framework

In the new release of Saasu (see preview) we have Activities. Activities are all kinds of things; Meetings, Notes, Milestones etc. One Activity types is an Idea. We included this feature for our own use and because we felt other business probably have the same problems as we have in dealing with lots of ideas for improvement, change, new markets and the like.

This feature can help your organisation capture ideas from your employees and advisors who have access to your file. Once your management structure has reviewed the Idea convert it into another Activity type called a Procedure. Your could print or publish your procedures and you have your procedures manual. You can build up your set of business procedures organically over time rather than dedicating fixed resources. Create rigour in your business execution, create some control in the change process. Simply being a little more systematic and could save complexity being added to your business through Ideas which aren’t approved or tested before being actioned.

An Idea in Saasu could be a single sentence or an entire proposal. The key is that you all have access to it in a controlled environment. Someone owns the idea in Saasu and it can be added to todo lists. have date deadlines applied and more.

Saasu IDEAS framework

There are many ways you could use the tool we are providing but here’s one example where we have created.

An idea has a life-cycle just like sales, business models, markets and products -

1. IDEA - it starts as just that ‘an idea’, your thinking around opportunities, efficient process, intellectual property and the like.
2. DOCUMENT - get the idea down. A brief version or the detail as a brief, white papers, business plan or whatever you feel is appropriate for your documentation phase.
3. EVALUATE - all ideas need scrutiny, if you never put them up for scrutiny they don’t exist (except in your head). Allocate your Idea to a new Owner who will make the call or review it for discussion.
4. APPLY - all ideas that pass the tests of evaluation need to be applied to real life situations that they were thought up for. Convert the Activity type from an Idea to a Procedure in Saasu
5. SYSTEMATIC - Ideas can be re-worked moving back and fourth through the cycle.

The evaluation step is key. Ensure the right person is controlling what passes, what goes back on the shelf and what’s removed. This person should have a keep it simple mentality. They should be wise and knowledgeable enough to evaluate the ramifications and the advantages of applying ideas to the business. It could be a committee, a board of directors or a CEO. You will need to work this out for your specific industry and organisational structure.

Engineer your business better by going back and documenting existing processes and put them through Saasu IDEA. Removing any deadwood you find and improving existing ideas to create efficiency and advantages.

In summary, start filtering your ideas with the rigour of a framework and ensure the right ideas are added to your business.

Sources of quality ideas and ways to manage them

Are you starved for new ideas or do you find yourself seeing so many ideas out there that sometimes you feel the information floods over you? Either way, there are idea sources and filtering techniques that can help.

Do you find yourself so time poor that you can’t spend 2 hours reading a high quality book on a new concept or global trend? In 20 minutes with the right material (there is some right here) you can get the same outcome.

Any idea or piece of information can be slotted into three clear realms or stages of knowing that a gentleman called Plato did some groundwork on without the benefit of technology to accelerate his learning:

1. What you know you know
2. What you know you don’t know - or know a little about but not enough to be of much use
3. What you don’t know you don’t know - blind spots to which you are completely oblivious

Opportunity exists in that final point, we would like to share some quality sources with you.
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If you have not seen Marc’s excellent recent post on Sustainable Business you should read it.

Today we will build on that article and take a slight tangent to focus on the specific use of SaaS (software-as-a-service) to improve your business and improve (not just simplify) your life with SaaS in three areas. (more…)

Whenever you believe in business that you up against a bigger competitor, with more money and more resources remind yourself that all great things are built of mind not of materials. If you want some proof of this have a look at Peter Callesen’s works generated from single pieces of paper.

The big problem with technology is that it can be so darn good you want to use it all. Making matters worse, it’s cheaper and cheaper so there are less purchase barriers.

Like all consumption, too much technology will give you business lethargy. Wasted time, wasted investment and the scary one - redundant technology (that’s the kind you stopped using almost as soon as you paid for it).

The golden rules of technology investment:

1. Use a few really good technologies to keep it simple.
2. Make sure you make full use of those technologies.
3. Be prepared to change a technology for a better one.

Use A Few Really Good Technologies To Keep It Simple

What is the turning point where buying technology stops generating productivity gains. I’d argue it is a lot sooner than you think. Complexity costs money and distractions cost money. What is a really good technology:

Good Engineering and Design

The automotive industry has proven this time and again. Engineer and design well and the market will be all over your business to buy your goods and services. People will pay disproportionate amounts of money versus the practical gains. Does Hyundai really underperform a BMW when taking you from A to B. No, but the BMW driver is willing to pay for the design and engineering difference that gives them sheer driving pleasure. You can have 3 or 4 Hyundai’s for the same money. The point being it is disproportionate assessment of value by the consumer. People don’t buy on price, it’s a 2nd or 3rd order consideration.

Photo by The Aga

Automation Creates Time Where It Didn’t Exist

I always say to people,

Experiences and time are limited in life, money isn’t.

The number one thing you all want more of in your life and seem powerless to get it is (more…)

Another new Software as a Service (SaaS) idea that might work for some of our business customers is Avatars.

Avatars are a digital representation of people. You find them all over the internet these days, in virtual worlds and increasingly in commercial use for customer support.

A more recent innovation however is the use of these Avatars to sell your products. In pre-sales not post-sales, as it is a very different area because people are less tolerant of poor quality voice or images.

We set one up recently to welcome new visitors to saasu. If you have any feedback let us know. It’s easy to get one for your own site.

The downside of course is (more…)

Too often we all get caught up with business and forget to make time for the important things. Spontaneously spending time out on the water recently (see nifty professional looking video that anyone can make) was a worthwhile endeavour and prompted some of the big questions in life -

• Why did it take so long for Captain Cook in his ship ‘The Endeavour; so long to find the world’s best harbour in Sydney?
• Why are yachts always ladies?
• Why don’t we do this more often ?
• Why is it so hot?
• How does animoto let you make such great videos in under 10 minutes? Why don’t we use it more often? Why doesn’t every small business use it on their website when it is sooo easy?

It’s funny where you pick up great insights. I was watching a national gardening program and one of the winners of their annual Gardener Of The Year prize was asked by the host how she succeeded in building such an amazing garden. Her answer floored me…
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We have flotation devices to save us from drowning. I think we need a Bloatation detection device to tell us when enough features are enough in the Software as a Service (SaaS) utilites we build like Saasu. I think a bloatation detection device would sound a big warning alarm when customers: (more…)

Productivity is king, I have noticed I am most productive when isolated with controlled connectivity. Let me explain. By controlled connectivity I’m referring to having control in who connects to me and when. In this situation people can’t get me immediately on a land line, mobile, Skype or Instant Messenger but they can send me e-mails, leave voice mails or a message with our receptionist. This means I can work on that one thing I really need to get done. (more…)