When you’re running a company you are hoping for it to grow and prosper.  However, when you’re buying or leasing equipment and services it’s likely that you’ll only be looking at now and perhaps a few months ahead as far as needs are concerned.

When I’m talking to new clients to establish what they need some think I’m asking too many ‘personal’ questions about their future plans, how they want the business to expand and whether they’re thinking of moving premises.  There is method in my apparent nosiness though – I might recommend a different system if I know that the one that will work perfectly well right now won’t cope with twice as many users or a multi-site set up as well.

A good example is a company who asked for a set up for five people and then experienced such rapid growth and increased usage that their phone system credit limit was reached in the first week of their month, causing their phone service to stop working.  Of course, this can be fixed quite quickly, but it is annoying and can cause embarrassment. If a bit of forward planning is done it can be avoided and there are no hitches in the smooth running of your business.

Share your aspirations and plans with your suppliers and they’ll be able to help you much more on your path to success.