A Teenager in Eastern Iowa

A teenager in Eastern Iowa working at a gas station can run an internationally relevant SMB on the side with today’s technology. Sounds farfetched, but a 25 year old is running a burgeoning media empire, while working for EMC2 on the side as a marketing advisor, thanks to his internet savvy and use of shared services.

Why don’t more established SMB’s take advantage of the options in front of them?

The growth of ‘cloud’ computing and software as a service (SAAS), not to mention outsourcing solutions like O-Desk and crowdsourcing solutions like social media, are leveraging the need for immediate business solutions even when the upfront capital isn’t there for long term investments.

Community at Work

Using any remotely hosted service, whether it’s a data center or a social media platform like WordPress, allows you to reap the benefits without the expense of running it in house. It also helps other SMBs in your community leverage the same computing power.

By sharing the cost across multiple organizations the service provider is better able to keep up with constantly changing needs of a high technology environment. On the client side, businesses are able to get top notch service at lower cost.

What about us?

So what are we as business owners and entrepreneurs doing to help build and support this network? Maybe we’re not teenagers anymore, but what can we do to turn our businesses into powerful tools for the social good on par with all those teen tech giants out there?

Here are some resources for businesses looking to understand the Shared Services model:

Shared Services & Outsourcing Network
Dana Gardner at ZDNet on Shared Services and Cost Cutting
Deloitte’s Shared Services Resources
Wikipedia Shared Services