I used to think I was a quick learner. With the possible
exception of programming my VCR, I grasped most new technology in
record time.
Enter the personal computer.
Oh, I didn't always have problems with computers. In fact,
when PCs first became affordable, I installed a state-of-the-art
system in my office. For three years, my business was virtually run
on PCs. Then in 1985, I decided to take a job with one of my
clients. In 1994, after a nine-year hiatus from entrepreneurship
(and computers), I started a new business and installed the latest
PC technology.
Content Continues Below
I knew computer technology had made rapid advances since I had
last used a PC, but I was completely unprepared for just how
radical those changes were. The manuals didn't help. Although
they were written in English, I felt like I was reading a foreign
language.
How does a person whose business relies on computers re-enter
the race for profits and clear the computer hurdles? You do it with
patience and constant application of what you have just learned
(and unlearned).
My previous business was an advertising and sales promotion
agency with a full-time art director and graphic designers. My
current business is also graphics-oriented: We produce publications
and slide shows for businesses and the medical community. Before I
set up shop, I visited similar businesses and noticed that
computers had made it much easier, faster and cheaper to turn out
the type of work my art department had once produced.
Confidently, I assumed I could use the computer as my "art
department," saving money on overhead. Best of all, I'd
never have to deal with a temperamental art director again.
I soon learned how wrong I was. At least you can reason with an
art director. Try arguing with a machine that interrupts your work
to flash something like this on screen: "CAUTION! Fault No.
0087691."
Until I discovered how to live in harmony with my computer, I
lost more than a few files and many hours of work. Here is some of
what I learned:
The computer, for all its complexity, is similar to a domestic
animal. It will serve you well, provided you don't ask it to do
what it cannot do.
A computer has its own language, accented with backslashes,
asterisks and prompt signs. If you want it to respond to a command,
you must speak its language.
Finally, as with a pet, child, friend or any other creature with
whom you form a relationship, you must spend time with your
computer to truly understand it.
These hard-won lessons have worked for me. My computer and I are
becoming the best of friends. Besides producing some of the
greatest graphics I have ever sold, this genie in a box also
manages my billing, forecasting, checking accounts and other
bookkeeping jobs. Maybe, if I add the right software, it will even
teach me how to program my VCR.
If you'd like to sound off on small-business issues,
please write to "Sounding Off," in care of Entrepreneur,
2392 Morse Ave., Irvine, CA 92714.
Frederic S. Rosenfeld is the owner of Stat Digital
Communications in West Orange, New Jersey.