I'm Baz and my company EchoDek designs software to save small businesses time and money.

Although my job is to design and build software, I have to say - technology will not save you.

At the beginning, all the technology can do is take what you already have and make it better. Faster, more accurate, cheaper. But it's all based on what you already have.

Before you can do anything, you need a system.

Every business is different, every business has a different system.

We have two main systems - an 8 stage sales process and a 12 stage software development process. When we deviate from those processes, we find we get bad results. When we stick with them, we get amazing results.

But those processes didn't come from our software. They came from sitting down in a darkened room and thinking about what it was that we do every day. And then writing it down. And then refining it. And refining it again.

Once we had it written down, then we could look at the technology for improving things.

That's why the first step in our sales process is always about finding out about you as a company. What you do, how you do it, who does what.

Once you've got the system and you've got the technology, you can use those foundations to do incredible things. Real-time reporting, automated decision making, incredible cost-savings, research and development for new products and markets.

But it all starts with the system.