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Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?

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by Andrew Tellijohn
November 2004

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How small companies fulfill big tech desires

by Jim Martyka   Joseph Duffy simply wants what every small-business owner wants.

   “We want access to the new technology,” says the designer for the newly formed Minneapolis-based Duffy & Partners, a graphic design shop spun off from marketing giant Fallon Worldwide. “We want what the bigger companies have and I think every small-business owner looks for ways to get it. And that goes for all kinds of technology.”

Technology is a top concern for small to mid-size companies all over the world. Heck, some would be happy just to be able to afford Windows XP.

 “The fact is, there is a mentality for businesses of all sizes that technology has to be a top priority to stay competitive, regardless of industry,” says Alfred Marcus, a professor of management and strategic operations at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. “And they’re right. While you still need to have a strong idea for a firm and solid operations, technology has become something that can make or break small firms.”

That sentiment is echoed by experts throughout multiple industries who have seen it happen either to their own businesses or businesses within their markets. And until small businesses get more comfortable with their new toys, there is a good chance those struggles will continue. Lucky for small-business owners, there is no shortage of tech experts who are willing to help out.

Bigger to smaller
“A lot of this newer communication technology is simply too expensive for small businesses to afford,” says Rich Henderson, president of Plymouth-based Enventis Telecom.

“We saw how our technology was helping bigger Fortune 2000 companies and we got the feeling that there were several small businesses that didn’t even know this was coming down the pike. And those that found out about it would want it and wouldn’t be able to afford it. We found a way to help small businesses get it.”

Henderson is referring to his company’s Encompass Unified Communications System, a system that offers small firms the chance to utilize Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication systems, which allows phone calls to be transmitted over the Internet rather than phone lines. Many bigger businesses have switched to VoIP systems already and many more are expected to in the next few years, replacing phone systems.

But there’s a problem with these systems that has kept small businesses from using them — they cost thousands and sometimes even millions of dollars to implement. Enter Enventis, a small firm itself with about 70 employees, which essentially rents out the service to small businesses.

The company paid the expense of setting up a VoIP system for itself (with expanded capacity) and it acts as a host to small businesses that want to use the system, charging them a monthly fee that averages out to about $50 per person per month (costs depend on the number of employees using the service).

The company gets a system that can handle voice mail, e-mail and faxes all in one. It also gets unified messaging capability, which means employees can check voice mail messages via the Internet and e-mail messages over the phone. It also provides an employee tracking system, which allows employees to take important calls no matter where they are. And those are just the basics.

 Enventis, which rolled out the technology in late 2002, has just over 50 clients, including a very satisfied Joseph Duffy.

 “Communications can be a nightmare for a small firm and we were looking for something that makes communications easy and something that would keep us as virtual as possible,” he says. “This system has given everyone here the flexibility that many small businesses don’t have.”

Duffy got a good look at the technology before his 12-employee company spun off earlier this year. Fallon installed the VoIP system a few years ago and has praised its efficiency. Duffy knew he couldn’t settle for less and he started plans to join up with Enventis before he even moved out of Fallon.

 “Communications is an area where a small business needs independence and the top product because it’s such an important part of any business,” Duffy says. “The system handles so much for us. And from what I understand, we’re even getting more features with it than Fallon.”

Computer headaches
Right up there alongside telecommunications systems in the world of headaches for small-business owners are computer systems. Most tech-support experts say fixing computer problems is their bread and butter and business is booming.

 “The technology is growing so rapidly and many small-business owners want to own the best technology they can get, but they don’t really understand it or how to use it,” says Jeff Holds, a sales manager and IT consultant for Bloomington-based Phoenix Technology Solutions. “That’s truer for computer technology than anything else and that goes for Internet systems, operating systems, whatever. Too many small-business owners try and do the IT work themselves and that’s where they run into trouble.”

Phoenix Technology Solutions specializes in sending experts into small and large firms to do what’s called a site-controlled document, which for anywhere from $500 to $1,000 provides a detailed evaluation of a company’s current technology “health.”

Holds says they have found some interesting common technological problems in working with small businesses. More often than not, small businesses will have out-of-date anti-virus software, older operating systems, overloaded memory and more than one Internet service provider. And that’s just the start.

“It’s amazing that some of these companies can even function with what we find,” Holds says. The owners “have so much else to worry about that they can’t possibly focus on the day-to-day task of taking care of technology. They need a tech expert who can work off the site-controlled document that we give them.”

Such was the case with Edina-based Facial Plastic Surgery Specialists. After having some minor computer problems, the company’s director of operations Paul Herb called his old friend Holds and hired him to do the report. What they found was a little disturbing.

 “We really got lucky because we found that our security was compromised, there were some areas where our security could be breached,” Herb says. “Luckily nothing happened and we got it fixed. But you can imagine how dangerous that is for a firm like ours because people could have gotten into patient records.”

Herb said his firm shares a similar problem with several small businesses in that there isn’t enough time to handle technology problems himself and there isn’t enough money to have an expert. Nevertheless, he says he learned his lesson.

 “We had somebody who wasn’t really a tech expert doing it and we learned that we needed an expert,” Herb said. “Technology, especially the computer systems, is too important to not give it to an expert.”

 Even though general use of the Internet has been in practice for a little over a decade, small businesses and the public in general are still getting a grasp on how it can be used the most efficiently to help a business and how some sneaky people can use it against them. Small businesses are prime targets for viruses and technology-related infections.

Inexperience with Internet applications is one reason small businesses are more vulnerable. But another is the open use of the Internet that many tech experts find in small firms.

“In general, small businesses are a lot more laid-back and they don’t have policies in place to prevent employees from playing around on the Internet,” says Chuck Sheffler, president at St. Paul-based Uptech Partners. “Not only is that wasting work time, it leaves the door open for some Internet-related problems.”

Uptech has made a niche by helping small firms manage Internet usage, mainly by installing watchdog applications and firewalls. For around $1,200, Uptech will give a customer a listing of Internet activity and some added insurance.

Gaining space
The same can be said when it comes to operating systems. For some companies, like retail firms, sales, manufacturing and distribution can be handled within the same system, making it easier for small- business owners to run their firm. But there are many companies that require a little more technology than others, especially in the areas of storage, tracking and distribution.

“Storage space is an age-old problem for pharmacies of all shapes and sizes,” says John Brady, a partner at Minnetonka-based PrairieStone Pharmacy. “With all the medication that pharmacies carry, it usually requires a huge space and for what we wanted to do, that was a major problem.”

A fast-growing local pharmacy, PrairieStone is opening up in about 20 Byerly’s and Lunds grocery stores around the Twin Cities. In order to accomplish the firm’s goals of being a top grocery-store pharmacist, PrairieStone had to find a way to live and work in tiny spaces of just over 400 square feet, where other pharmacies have thousands of square feet. Enter Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania-based AmerisourceBergen and its FastFind Universal automation system.

FastFind is an automated system that arranges prescriptions on vertical carousels that go 14 feet into the ceiling, allowing the small pharmacy to take full advantage of its limited space. The system also simplifies PrairieStone’s work. If a patient needs a prescription, the system finds it with the help of bar codes and delivers it to the front. And while it’s a bit expensive (from $75,000 to $100,000) Brady says it has made the pharmacy more efficient, which AmerisourceBergen officials say is the point.

 “It’s a very unique system and it’s really one that we think will change how pharmacies operate in the near future,” says Barbara Brungess, manager of corporate and investor relations with AmerisourceBergen.

Expect variations of automated systems to become more small-business friendly in the near future. “I think it’s something we’ll see soon,” says the U’s Marcus. “There are a lot of technology firms that are looking at ways they can work with small businesses.”

[contact] John Brady, PrairieStone Pharmacy: 952.745.4515; jbrady@prairiestonerx.com. Barbara Brungess, AmerisourceBergen: 610.727.7199; bbrungess@amerisourcebergen.com. Scott DeToffol, Enventis Telecom: 763.577.3913; scott@enventis.com. Joseph Duffy, Duffy & Partners: 612.548.2306; josduffy@duffy.com. Rich Henderson, Enventis Telecom: 763.577.3914; rich@enventis.com. Paul Herb, Facial Plastic Surgery Specialists: 952.835.5665; ph@facialplasticsurgery.com. Jeff Holds, Phoenix Technology Solutions: 952.943.1632; jholds@phoenixtechsol.com. Alfred Marcus, University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management: 612.624.2812. Chuck Sheffler, Uptech Partners: 651.224.3234; www.uptechpartners.com.