Way back in the early nineties when our first desk top computers arrived, big and bulky and claiming half of the desk, their promise was one of complete transformation of our working lives. We look back now and laugh at these clunking, slow machines that were so fragile one incorrect stroke was a disaster. 

Yet the promise of their potential to transform all the systems and processes of the business, from quotation to ordering, delivery and invoicing was there, just out of reach.  

Today, millions of apps and bots and online programmes, tools, systems and fixes later, and most businesses still suffer from this same problem. There is little or no data integration and only a fraction of our computer capabilities are being used. 

We have information galore, in excel sheets, personal filing systems, individual databases, saved internet searches and a decade of old emails, all sitting in our personal computers. Some more advanced companies have central databases, and cloud computing but mostly this just replicates the problem.  Gigabytes of information are saved, but seldom found and almost never truly accessible to others. 

Then along came COVID-19 and knocked us out of the past and into 2021 and a rushing ride to the future. Overnight we magically mastered virtual communication tools, shared data via the cloud and added chatbots to our sites. We unleashed an ability to work virtually and leapfrogged our digital skills. In the process we realised that it wasn’t the computer that was at fault but us, the lazy users. 

Finally, it’s clear that it’s up to you to decide how to move forward. Going digital is about more than e-commerce, it reaches into all aspects of running a business. Going digital is also not difficult – it just takes a little courage and the determination to master. There are hundreds of free apps out there, and thousands of online tools and products that can plug and play, and even more sites and YouTube videos showing you how. 

All we need is the commitment to push ourselves and our teams forward and then insisting that there is no going back. The potential for magic is already in our computers – all it takes is for us to learn how to unlock it.