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    How should I best budget and plan for new technology investments?

    The financial implications of buying a new piece of technology are as important as the features it has and who will ultimately end up using it – however, this part of the planning process is often neglected. Considering upfront investment vs. recurring subscription costs, as well as training budgets, necessary upgrades and servicing prices will help you make decisions which don’t leave you struggling to justify the return on investment the technology you employ has.

    Ways to help you deal with it:

    Action plan

    Preparing for a new investment in technology

    Effort: Medium
    Impact : Medium
    Once you have made a decision on using a new technology, the next step is to plan how it will be implemented.

    ACTION PLANS are a structured list of steps designed to help you approach tackling a particular business challenge.

    • We explain why each step is important
    • Customise by setting your own completion dates and assign tasks
    • Helpful tools are provided for certain steps
    • A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available

    Action plan

    Calculating the ROI from implementing new technology

    Effort: High
    Impact : Medium
    The first data point you get about a new technology is often the cost of a tool – and that can be intimidating. What’s less clear is the return on that investment (ROI).

    Action plan

    Develop your digital skills as a leader

    Effort: Medium
    Impact : Medium
    Identify what digital skills are important in your leadership role and find the best learning method, from online resources to training and events.

    Guide

    An introduction to budgeting and planning for new technology investments

    In business, the success of any new technology lies in the planning and rollout. Read this guide to find out how to make your new tech a success.

    GUIDES break a challenge down, providing important context and real-world experiences.

    • Based on SME experiences, not corporate jargon
    • Filled with real-world stories
    • Achievable steps every business can take

    Other support that's available

    A budgeting cheat sheet

    A budgeting cheat sheet

    Alongside the range of resources we have on this page to help with budgeting, TechRepublic has produced a cheat sheet which unpicks some of the key issues.

    Dealing with legacy technology

    Dealing with legacy technology

    Alongside initial costs, businesses must also prepare for future investments in technology to make sure products and services remain useful and compatible with new ways of working and the systems of others like a supply chain.

    How other businesses have tackled something similar

    Real business story

    Develop a process for identifying the right tech for your business

    Investing in new technology is a big decision. To get it right, leaders must develop a process to ensure that any outlay benefits the business.

    Real business story

    Do your research before investing in new tech

    Adopting technology can drive productivity, improve customer service and increase profitability. Before investing, however, business leaders should do careful research.

    Real business story

    Be pragmatic about technology to align investments with business needs

    Investing in technology requires careful thought. Whether it’s a new internal system or something that’s customer facing, business leaders need to fully understand needs before moving forward.

    The questions lots of businesses are trying to answer

    What issue is keeping you awake at night? A bit of targeted support is often all you need to overcome those challenges.

    Select a topic

    Digital

    How can I improve the digital presence my business has? How can I streamline and automate some of our business processes? How can I understand what digital tools or support my business needs? How do I effectively seek external digital support? How do I know if my technology is robust enough for growth? How do I assess and choose the right technology to improve business operations? How do I work out the best digital sales channels to use? How should I best budget and plan for new technology investments? How should I go about collecting data to improve my business? How should I use the data I have to improve decision making?

    Leadership & Strategy

    As a leader, how do I learn to trust others within my organisation? How can I balance short-term needs with long-term targets? How can I reflect on my own strengths and weaknesses as a leader? How do I learn to become a better leader? How do I improve the communication in my business? How do I apply learnings from other businesses to my own company? How do I get better at noticing and reacting to warning signs? How do I get staff interested in our vision and values? How do I give my team autonomy and get better at delegating? How should my role as a business leader evolve with the company’s growth?

    People & Team

    How can I develop career paths for my staff? How can I develop the skillsets of my workforce? How can I improve my hiring and onboarding practices? How can I increase staff engagement and motivation? How can I keep my best members of staff? How can I reduce employee turnover? How can I run a better appraisals process? How do I deal with a challenging member of staff? How do I manage an effective remote workforce? How should I performance manage my staff?

    Planning

    How can I balance ambition with setting realistic goals? How can I get staff interested in the financial situation? How can I work out what required skillsets are missing in the business? How can I define and communicate my vision for success? How can I get better at looking internally at my business? How can I make my business more resilient to change? How do I ensure my business can navigate a dip in trading? How do I better inform my business plans? How do I know when to invest in my business? How do I know when to scale up my business?

    Sales & Growth

    How can I get a better return on investment from my marketing? How can I identify new customers to target? How can we better serve our most loyal customers? How can we develop new products and services? How do I create targets and KPIs for my staff? How do I benchmark my business against competitors? How do I build a network to support my business? How do I develop a clear unique selling point? How do I financially plan for new opportunities? How do I make sure my team and processes are ready for growth?
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