Just because it is not glamorous does not mean it is not necessary.

How does software and portable toilets work together?

As I pursue this business, I learn a great deal about my potential clients.  One night at a gathering of the chamber of commerce, I was having drinks when I ran into a fellow who asked me what I did for a living.  I told him I was software entrepreneur and that company helped small businesses track fleet maintenance and inventory.  He casually asked me to show him my wares and I went through a standard demonstration showing off the general features of my product.  He was excited and then gave me his business card and told me to get in touch.  He worked for a company that provided porta-potty services for the county.

I was a bit shocked at this encounter but it quickly set in that a company that provides portable outhouses for public events needs my services just as much as any trucking company or fleet of vehicles.  Merely for health and safety reasons, a company like that needs to keep track of how the units they provide are maintained and kept clean.  That was why he was so interested in our Tony software.  We offered an economical means to track how he took care of his units and if they were safe for the public.

Tony allows a company like that to track how long a unit has been out in the field.  A company can track when the bio-blue fluid was changed in a unit and it can even send reminders via e-mail to make sure that this kind of maintenance is done. You can also use that information to coordinate with insurance companies and health care departments to get favorable treatment and better insurance rates.  So using Tony software for your Porta-Potty business makes sense.

We have been receiving inquiries for many kinds of businesses we did not expect to use our service.  Agriculture companies want to know if our software can use it to track hours of operation for farming equipment.  We have been hearing from school bus services and now porta-potty companies.  It seems that our software helps fill a niche.  This got me thinking that as technology grows into the economy and becomes a necessary tool than any kind of business could use our software.

That fits in with our vision of E₃ systems as we try to better help small and medium sized business use their money more wisely.  Contact us today and see how we can help.

Porta-Potties are not glamorous but are necessary.  If you have ever been on the search for one at a street festival or athletic event then you understand why.  Our software is not glamorous either but we feel it is necessary if you want your business to succeed.

Until next time.

Cabin Fever and Auto Show Trends.

Your Pick-Up Truck requires High-Tech;
 along with four wheel drive.

All work and no play makes for a dull entrepreneur and that was me before I decided to take a trip to the Chicago Auto Show this weekend.  There were plenty of vehicles to try out and see. I was also deeply impressed with the amount of affordable hybrid cars at the show.  However, what I noticed is that automobiles are becoming more connected and that means that software developers need to pay attention to how cars and software interact.  This means for a small and medium sized business must pay attention to the car and mobile device interface.  This week on the blog, I want to discuss how the future plays out in your new cars.

This winter in Chicago has been very hard with alternating sub-zero temperatures and snow during the last eight weeks.  Confronted with cabin fever, I attended the Chicago Auto Show.  Instead of going to the luxury cars and concept vehicles, I spent time looking at delivery vans, hybrid cars, and standard passenger vehicles to see what the latest trend were.  It was clear that the smart phone revolution has now joined the automotive industry.  When I viewed cars from Ford, Kia, Chrysler, Honda, and Mini all of them featured means to charge mobile devices and display information on a communal screen.  Even the working man’s stand-by, the Ford F-150 USB plugs for your smart phone.

This tells me that the mobile revolution which I am part of is not going to stop.  If automakers consider it a requirement to accommodate ways to charge and communicate with smart devices then you as a business person need to accommodate those tools into how you manage your business.  I had a great time and received a chance to meet the people at Connected World at the show.   I spent some time with their staff and it is clear that we have a shared goal and that is to understand how mobile technologies interact with homes and cars.

At E₃ systems we want to help you manage your small business better with mobile applications and tools to make your life easier.  Contact us today to learn more.

Cabin fever got me to the auto show but once there I was inspired because if the automakers of the world are on to something then I know that a small entrepreneur like me must also be riding the same wave.

Until next time.

Make Technology Part of the Solution

It is funny sometimes how social media works.  On a whim during my lunch hour, I got on Twitter and posted a bit of technology wisdom in less than 140 characters and received a pretty strong reaction of support.

Technology is not THE solution..it is an important part OF the solution. #eeeThree #bizspark
— Edward Wisniowski (@eeeThree_ed) February 7, 2014

This week on the blog I wanted to expound on that and tell you why you might be looking at technology incorrectly.

I have spent over fifteen years of my professional life as a software developer and technology consultant.  In that time, I have seen first-hand how many times companies have used technology to paper over a broken process.  Accounts payable are not being taken care of in a timely manner so an automated system is put into place.  Inventory control is not being managed correctly so a fancy ERP system is installed.  Finally, web sites are used as substitutes for real marketing and face to face interaction with customers.  Through it all, I have shaken my head in disbelief and cashed the checks of people willing to pay me.

I suspect that is because many business people understand their business but do not understand technology.  It is also clear that they don’t understand all the work that goes into a professional web site or piece of software.  They just think it is magic.  They turn on a computer or open a web browser and instantly it works bringing customers to their business and managing the tedious parts of their job.  The reality is very different.  Technology makes managing your business easier but it does not replace the difficult decisions that a business person has to make.  Poor employees will need to be fired.  Bills will have to be paid on time.  Finally, you will have to interact with customers.

This may not seem like news to many people but it consistently surprises me that how many business professionals just think that technology should “just work” when they do not understand how it should just work.  For instance, if you have an accounts payable system, which accounts should the system debit the checks.  If one of this accounts doesn’t have enough money how do you prioritize which bills get paid?  Finally, do you pay bills electronically or do you print checks and then send them out in the mail?  All of these are important questions and a business person needs to know the answers before a technology person can create a system to manage it.

I suppose, I am a bit jaded from my years of experience.  One of the reasons I founded E₃ systems was so I could help businesses solve problems with technology instead of using technology as an excuse to ignore those problems.  Contact us today to find out more.

Technology is not some kind of magic.  Technology is a tool for helping you generate profit and meeting the needs of your customers.  By better understanding your business, you can make technology an ally instead of an excuse.

Until next time.

Life lessons in Business and Football.

You can learn a great deal about business
from professional football.

This week was the Big Game.  I get together with family and spend time binging on food that is no good for me.  I watch the game and live tweet it for the fun and entertainment of my friends.  One of the things that strikes me about the event is that these teams have reached the biggest event in the sport and for a casual football fan like myself, I do not know the players on either team except for Peyton Manning.  This tells me that football excellence depends on many people working well together instead of superstars condescending to get something done.  This week on the blog some lessons I have learned about being a small business I received from a professional football.

The biggest lesson I have learned is that no one person is bigger that the team.  Peyton Manning may be the sole superstar who I know in the Big Game but he did not get to the championship solely by himself.  He needed offensive linemen to prevent big angry linemen from stomping on his neck.  He needed receivers who could catch the big passes when he needed them.  Finally, he needed defensive players who could force the opposing team off the field in three downs.  Without that he would go another season being unfavorably compared to his brother who owns two championships to his one.

Next leadership matters.  When Peyton joined the Bronco’s he took charge of how the team practices offense and even when it practices.  Since he has a track record of success, the others on the team quickly adopted his methods and the team went from mediocre to playoff caliber. This leadership on the part of Manning and the ownership of the team made a huge difference.

I think the final lesson I learned during this football season is that a bunch of no-name players working well together are better that superstars.  The Seattle Seahawks with the exception of Richard Sherman seem like a quiet and hardworking bunch of guys.  They do not care about their no-name quarterback or if they do not have stars on the field but together they are a defensive powerhouse.  As someone who grew up with the 1985 Chicago Bears and the Superbowl Shuffle, I can relate to this group of guys.

So, for me, the lesson of this weekend is that teammates matter, superstars are over rated and that leadership whether it comes from a quarterback or a coach is essential to success.  We at E₃ systems would love to help make your business more successful so contact us today and ask us how we can help.

It is going to be sad when football season ends tonight but when all the dust settles on Monday rest assured that we can all learn some lessons from football.

Until next time.

We were mobile before mobile was cool

The future is mobile computing

Last week, I discussed a few trends you missed. I want to follow up on that blog post because we are depending on technology more.  The technology with the most influence is mobile technology and it grew last year by 115%.  This week in the blog I want to remind you why you should pay attention to this.

In 2013, mobile application use increased by 115%. The use of smart phones and the dominance of data means that as a professional and business person your business is going to depend more on how you view your information.  This means, that systems should not be tethered to desk top computers and clunky systems.  Today, it should be possible to follow up on invoices, bills of lading and other important activities inside your organization via your mobile device.  So software vendors who sell you solutions which do not work on mobile devices are not doing their job correctly.

At E₃ systems we have two major releases which work on both a laptop, tablet, and mobile device.  Our Sully 2.0 system helps you keep track of bills of lading, invoices, and purchase orders from the desktop to the phone.  We have also made the transition from Microsoft Tag to QR coding which gives us way to connect pieces of paper to the web.  We are also proud to announce the release of our Tony software which makes managing your fleet of vehicles easy.  Now drivers and upload documents via their phones, receipts are accessible and you can track the maintenance of your vehicles.  This will help you with your insurance premiums and when accidents happen protect you from liability.

At E₃ systems we saw this trend years ago and it has shaped how we have created software ever since. Contact us today and find out more.  This is one trend you should not miss.

Until next time.

Three trends you may have missed

You missed something pretty important
this week if you were not paying attention.

This is a bad week to be a technology entrepreneur.  Three things happened this week which both taint the image of tech professionals am make it harder to do business.  This week, I want to discuss how security guards for Google, a loss of net-neutrality and the growth of mobile computing are creating a witches brew of discontent.  

I have make a pretty big bet financially and professionally on net neutrality.  This week a judge threw out FFC regulations which prevents phone companies and broadband operators from giving preferential treatment to one kind of content over another.  This is the antithesis of how the web is supposed to work.  All content is supposed to be equal it is up to consumers to determine what is popular and what is not.  Thanks to this ruling that is going to change.  

Now big content providers like Facebook, Google and the NYTimes can pay bribes to your cable company or mobile phone provider to give their content preferential treatment over those who did not pay the bribe.  Thanks to the ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals this is perfectly legal conduct.  This hurts bloggers and small entrepreneurs like me because it will hurt us growing traffic and gaining venture capital.  This decision is bad for business and will not liberate the invisible hand of the marketplace; instead, with will unleash a hammer of big money and it will crush innovation.  I hope that the local chamber of commerce organization will help lobby for net neutrality.  

Next Will Oremus and Reuters are reporting that Google is using private security to protect its employees from protesters.  This has a faint whiff of similar behavior from the Pullman train car company.  Relations between locals and technology firms have grown sour over the last 10 years in the San Francisco Bay area.  This break down has occurred because those in the technology business are making tremendous wealth.  This wealth has driven up housing costs.  In addition, the libertarian world view of many tech professionals has created a serious gap with locals who see tech professionals as people who gentrify neighborhoods and could not give a flying leap about their neighbors who do not work in the profession.  

The optics of that are just bad; educated, wealthy professionals running roughshod over an existing community while the locals harbor deep resentment of the wealth and privilege of these professionals.  From a business perspective, I understand why Google is chartering the private buses and hiring the security guards to make it easier for employees to get into the office.  This creates a need for serious outreach to the community because I feel that a successful business should be a cause for celebration instead of a source of civil unrest.  As my business grows, we will make an effort that we will try to share the wealth and become a respected member of the community.  We say so on our mission statement.  

Finally, CNET.com has reported that mobile application use has grown by over 115% in 2013.  This says, if you are a small or medium sized business your website and applications are going to need to work on mobile devices.  The mobile web is no longer optional.  

So what do these three stories have in common?  The Net-Neutrality ruling gives your wireless phone carrier tremendous power to pick winners and losers in the technology marketplace.  The reason why they will have this power is because more of us are using our mobile devices to gather information.  What this will do is eventually create more income inequity and tension between those who understand technology and those which don’t.  

At E₃ systems we can help your organization take advantage of the mobile web. Contact us to learn more.  These three trends together represent a huge challenge to the National economy and the local one in Joliet.  Together working with the Chamber of Commerce and our elected representatives we will win back net-neutrality.  E₃ systems wants to be part of this community rather than apart from it and we want to build your mobile web application to make your organizations more successful.  

The witches brew of discontent could be a recipe for success we just have to make sure we watch the pot and make sure it does not boil over.  

Until next time. 

What real entrepreneurs have on their phone.

Applications for the Entrepreneur on the go.

I love my local chamber of commerce.  I love them so much that each year I pay them dues and attend many of the functions they host.  This week there was a bit of a kerfuffle on social media when they posted an article from thenextweb.com about the top 13 mobile applications an entrepreneur should have on their smart phone.  Crestfallen, I replied, “May-be you should ask one of your members who writes mobile apps?” They replied saying that I should write something up so this week on the blog for my regular readers and members of the Joliet Chamber of Commerce here are some of the web application I can’t live without and I am an entrepreneur.

Esponce QR Code Reader – I am a big fan of QR codes and using them to have pieces of paper communicate with the internet.  Esponse QR code makes this as easy as taking a picture on your phone.  What makes Esponce so good is that in addition to reading QR codes you can create them on the fly from your phone.  Finally Esponce offers a tracking service and a history of all the codes you have scanned.  Download the application here.

Ubersocial Pro Twitter Client - If you are on the go staying on top of your Facebook and Twitter reputation can be a full time job.  Ubersocial makes using Twitter and Facebook is a snap. You can follow particular users or hashtags update both Facebook and Twitter with one touch from your phone and be instantly notified when someone talks about your organization.  There is a pro version with advertising and then Pro version for $4.99.  Ditch the ads and pay for the pro version, you can thank us later. Download it here. 

Google Keep - It is hard to take notes and save them electronically.  Google Keep is a simple introductory tool to save notes on your phone of tablet.  If you find a web page you want to read later you can share it with Keep to read later.  Grocery or to do lists can be set up with a click.  You can even set up reminders to send e-mails or text messages to do something.  Even if you lose your phone or tab let you can access your Keep notes via the web.  It is not the biggest or must fully feature note taking tool but for someone learning to take electronic notes it is a great start.  Find it here.

Kindle Book Reader – Entrepreneurs spend a great deal of time traveling.  Lugging around books and magazines can be a hassle.  The Kindle reader app allows you to have an entire newsstand and bookstore at your fingertips the next time you are on a long flight. The reader automatically hooks into Amazon.com’s website and you can get the latest best sellers with a swipe.  For people who love to read or need to keep up this is a must have.  Download your version here.

Google Drive - Being an entrepreneur means sales presentations, demonstrations, and lots of travel.  It would be nice if your spreadsheets, documents, and presentations could be accessed in one place.  Google Drive makes this a reality.  The Google drive behaves like a regular hard drive but instead of physically existing on your phone, tablet or PC it exists on Google's servers safe and secure.  So if you change a spreadsheet on your tablet when you view it on your phone or PC the changes are saved.  This is easier to use and safer than a thumb drive. Learn more here.

Songza – All work and no play make the life of an entrepreneur dull.  Songza is a music application which helps find music for any mood or moment.  Instead of playlists and stations being managed by computers, Songza employees human being to keep the music selections fresh so if your tastes range from early sixties jazz bebop to the latest hits you have your pick of quality commercial free music.  I especially like the Space Age Bachelor Pad channel playing lounge music from the Mad Men era of history and College Memories 1980 – 1989.  Try out Songza an you will not use another streaming music service.

As an entrepreneur those are the application I have to have on my smart phone.  At E₃ systems we also make mobile and web applications which might help you.  Our first application is called Sully and it is an inventory management system which can produce Bills of Lading, Invoices, and packing slips from your phone, tablet or PC.  We also have an application named Tony which helps you track the care and maintenance of item in your fleet of vehicles.  It also works on a phone, tablet and PC.  This system will help you stay on top of insurance risks and maintenance warranties with the swipe of a finger.  To learn more about E₃ systems and our products please click here.

Kerfuffles are a good thing and I hope this one helps you find the applications to make doing business easier.

Until next time.