{"id":4416,"date":"2015-05-05T21:06:51","date_gmt":"2015-05-05T21:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/multiacademstg.wpengine.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2015\/05\/05\/5-ways-itil-can-help-your-small-business-grow\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T08:21:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T08:21:07","slug":"5-ways-itil-can-help-your-small-business-grow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2015\/05\/05\/5-ways-itil-can-help-your-small-business-grow\/","title":{"rendered":"5 ways ITIL can help your small business grow"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When starting your entrepreneurship, what is your focus? Most probably, it\u2019s the service(s) you offer and the clients who buy those services. Is that wrong? Certainly not \u2013 quite the contrary, that\u2019s a business-oriented approach, and it\u2019s a must-have if you want to succeed.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">What happens with startups?<\/h2>\n<p>I witnessed a client of mine with a great idea, a few techie-oriented friends organized as an expert community, and a lot of work. The first year was excellent. They even made some people jealous. And then \u2013 it started. Here are the questions that were left unanswered:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why are there are so many discrepancies in <a href=\"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=relationship-and-agreement-processes&amp;doc=service-level-requirements\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">customer expectations<\/a>\u00a0compared to services we deliver?<\/li>\n<li>Who controls finances, i.e., <a href=\"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=supply-demand-processes&amp;doc=budgeting-and-controlling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">budgets and accounting<\/a>\u00a0for the services?<\/li>\n<li>How can we fulfill <a href=\"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=relationship-and-agreement-processes&amp;doc=service-level-agreement-sla-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Service Level Agreement (SLA)<\/a>\u00a0requirements?<\/li>\n<li>Why did the server crash from last week wipe out almost all effort and success?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are many studies and surveys that investigate this interesting phenomenon \u2013 why small tech businesses fail instead of scaling. Almost all findings point in one direction; i.e., when compared to other kinds of businesses (e.g., construction, agriculture, or finance) IT-related companies have almost the smallest survival rate after a few years (up to three) of existence.<\/p>\n<p>There are many parameters that influence someone\u2019s success in the marketplace. What I noticed in a few companies I worked with, and which were growing fast, is that they didn\u2019t develop from the inside. \u201dThe customer is king!\u201d is still valid, but I think that there is a \u201cbut, \u2026.\u201d What I mean is that you can have the best service delivered and the best customers in the world, but if you don\u2019t develop your organization from the inside, they will soon be \u201cEx.\u201d<br \/>\n<div id=\"middle-banner\" class=\"banner-shortcode\"><\/div><script>loadMiddleBanner();<\/script><br \/>\n<div id=\"side-banner-trigger\" class=\"banner-shortcode\"><\/div><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">Managed scaling<\/h2>\n<p>I know, \u201cYou have to develop your organization from the inside\u201d is (a) easier said than done, and (b) a very broad expression. Several times I found myself in the same situation: What to do first? Which way to go? How to do this \u2013 how to do that?\u2026 In the beginning, I tried to \u201cinnovate.\u201d But later, when I became familiar with <a href=\"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/what-is-itil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ITIL<\/a> and ITSM, it wasn\u2019t necessary anymore. There is a (winning) match between ITSM based on ITIL and business scaling (i.e., growth) of an organization.<\/p>\n<p>The usual problem with an organization\u2019s growth is the dilemma between a state of chaos (usual description of tech start-up that faces increased demand for its product or service) vs. a process management-oriented company with efficiency of service asset usage. ITIL is, basically, a process-oriented approach to service management; i.e., it\u2019s what you do and how you do it. So, here are five pain points a growing IT organization faces, and how ITIL can help:<\/p>\n<p><strong>#1 Strategic focus and process-oriented organization<\/strong> \u2013 use ITIL Service Strategy processes (e.g., Strategy Management for IT Service, Financial Management) to define your clients and your market segment, and to find a way to \u201cget your head above water.\u201d Your experts are OK (at least in the start-up phase), but a process management approach will help the organization avoid overdependence on a single person, be faster with time-to-market for new services, and have controlled changes of existing services.<\/p>\n<p><strong>#2 Lack of plans<\/strong> \u2013 no, I don\u2019t mean to create activities (remember, the focus is on efficiency of resources) by generating plans for everything. There is a saying \u201cIf you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.\u201d Ad-hoc is usual in the beginning, but every serious business needs plans and so do your services and resources. No guessing, but facts and figures. You have to understand customers\u2019 demands and be prepared (for <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">existing and future requirements<\/span>) to answer with appropriate capacity and availability. ITIL Service Design has processes and methodologies that do exactly that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>#3 Focus on essentials vs. focus dispersion<\/strong> \u2013 often, and this is particularly true for startups, companies try to do everything by themselves. That often leads to situations when you can\u2019t respond with the required quality, because you can\u2019t be the best in everything. This is where third parties can jump in. The point is to keep them managed and their delivery in the scope of service (i.e., customer) requirements. For example, the <a href=\"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=relationship-and-agreement-processes&amp;doc=supplier-management-process\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Supplier Management process<\/a> has mechanisms to ensure that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>#4 Excellence in Service Operation<\/strong> \u2013 trying to develop new features or improve existing ones (imagine \u2013someone finally needs something from you, so let\u2019s make the most of this situation) and fighting the battle within the live environment\u2026 well, it could get really tough, particularly when the number of users rises. Service Operation gives you an excellent foundation for a stable, controlled, and efficient environment that handles live services as required by <a href=\"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=relationship-and-agreement-processes&amp;doc=service-level-agreement-sla-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SLAs<\/a>. And, your customer will appreciate that (meaning \u2013 they will not go away, which is your foundation for further growth).<\/p>\n<p><strong>#5 Long-term customer satisfaction<\/strong> \u2013 this is about continual service improvement and customer relationships. Measure (if you don\u2019t measure, you don\u2019t know where you are or in which direction you are going) to control your delivery. Customers are here not only to pay for your services. They should be here to stay (as long as possible). Make strong connections between <a href=\"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=relationship-and-agreement-processes&amp;doc=service-level-management-process\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Service Level Management<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=relationship-and-agreement-processes&amp;doc=business-relationship-management-process\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Business Relationship Management processes<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=sms-related-documents&amp;doc=continual-service-improvement-process\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Continual Service Improvement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">Is ITIL only IT oriented?<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cBut, ITIL is more IT oriented\u201d someone could argue. Well, you can see it that way. But, under the hood \u2013 there are items that can be reused in most companies, independent of their branch.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s true that (today) large enterprises made it from scratch, or better to say \u2013 from the garage. They had a great idea, a smart strategic approach, and a lot of guts. But, what they did is they started developing from inside the organization in parallel to their growth. And that\u2019s one important distinguishing factor. ITIL and ITSM are here; one just needs to pick them up, and, most of all, know what to do with them.<\/p>\n<p><em>To implement ISO 20000 easily and efficiently, use our<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ISO 20000 Documentation Toolkit<\/a> <em>that provides step-by-step guidance for full ISO 20000 compliance.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When starting your entrepreneurship, what is your focus? Most probably, it\u2019s the service(s) you offer and the clients who buy those services. Is that wrong? Certainly not \u2013 quite the contrary, that\u2019s a business-oriented approach, and it\u2019s a must-have if you want to succeed. What happens with startups? I witnessed a client of mine with &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":17329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[381,382,344,383,204],"class_list":["post-4416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-business","tag-growth","tag-itil","tag-scaling","tag-service"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4416"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18471,"href":"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4416\/revisions\/18471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}