Fiction already used the title with which we opened this article for a German film in 2017. However, the phrase is much more real than cinema. Likewise, that is the conclusion that many professionals with years of experience working on projects in which technology plays a certain role have reached.
In easyap we have had to face a multitude of challenges: the technology itself, the specialties of each sector, the costs or deadlines of the project... But the number one challenge we face is resistance to change. Fear of progress. Why this fear of the future? How can we address the attitude of many managers and companies towards the changes presented by today's and tomorrow's society?
Fear of change as a barrier to technology
The fear of progress is truly inherent to human beings. This has been the case throughout human history, and with the emergence of any technological advance in society, this fear of the new has resurfaced. Why? Because the new, the unknown, and stepping outside one's comfort zone are always daunting. Escaping in search of new opportunities that arise in the light of new times. And digitization is still, even today, a new or semi-new world for many.
At easyap, we are very familiar with this fear of change and progress. In our case, however, we are encouraged to embrace the new and unknown. More than two decades ago, drawing on our knowledge and experience, we decided to develop and offer a financial solution combined with technology and the positive aspects it offered to all types of companies.
Fortunately, we saw that this mix of financial and IT specialists brought improvements and facilitated complex processes for companies in their billing, adapting them to the new reality. Even so, we have also seen how this fear of progress has slowed down some projects. In other words, we have carried out processes in which the obstacles to the project were multiplied by this fear of the unknown and the future, encountering responses that only introduce a problem for each solution, unverified and non-existent, but which supposedly invalidates the proposed evolution. Why is that?
The fable of the circus elephant as a metaphor
In relation to this fear of progress, so characteristic of human beings, there is a famous fable known in the world of psychology that perfectly explains it through metaphor:
There was a huge elephant that was presented every day at the circus, showing off its enormous strength. However, after each performance, the quadruped remained tied to a small stake driven into the ground with a chain that secured one of its legs. Curiously, that stake was initially just a small piece of wood, and although the chain was thick, an animal with such strength could easily free itself from the stake with a tug and escape.
So why didn't he do it? The elephant remained in the circus because he had always been tied to a similar stake since he was born. Although he was young, he considered the possibility of escaping by breaking his bonds, and the day came when he tried with all his might to break the chain or pull out the stake. Unfortunately, he did not succeed. He still fought for some time, but he did not succeed: the stake and the chain were much stronger than him at that time.
Exhausted, the elephant gave up. Even as a fully grown adult, large and strong, he remained convinced that he could not escape. Therefore, he never questioned that memory again and never tested his strength again. After many years, the elephant, now deprived of the strength he once had, saw how the stake, worn away by time, came out of the ground on its own. He was finally free, but by then time had passed and he no longer had the strength to flee.
At this point, we pose a question: is it really better to to live by perfecting mistakes or to bet on breaking with everything and moving forward by relying on what the future has to offer? This is a vital and constant question for the continuous improvement of any company.
What happened to the elephant is what happens to many managers in their day-to-day work. It is very common to see how, sometimes, we think that others are too optimistic or that they don't know enough about the project. And in the end, not trusting and not allowing yourself to be guided, especially in the innovative world of technology, can be a real setback.
Moving toward digital transformation with the help of experts
Unfortunately, from our own experience, we have encountered this 'elephant syndrome' on more than one occasion. Executives or business owners who, obviously, are too emotionally involved with their project and do not clearly see how much they can gain from implementing a technological solution with the help of professionals.
However, in order to take a step toward digital transformation, implementing solutions such as ours and growing a business is something that is within the reach of any financial manager or entrepreneur. It all starts with a change of mindset in which digitizing an SME or company is seen as progress. A change based on:
- Avoid the recurring defeatist attitude and fear of change, which is often reflected in classic phrases such as "it's not that easy."
- Leave behind corporate egocentrism in ancillary processes. That is, thinking that your own project is too specific, that the internal team could carry it out, that the company will lose control of the project...
- Seek advice from financial and technological specialists, as is our case. We are the kind of people who see difficulties as challenges and obstacles as opportunities, so just trust in our successful experience in other previous projects.
Fear of progress and resistance to change will only cause your business to become obsolete. As far as we at easyap are concerned, your billing processes for today and tomorrow are either digital or they simply won't happen. With our extensive experience and track record, we are here to help you. All we need from you is a proactive and positive attitude that is open to change. In short, trust in us and in the future.
Why outsource this type of project?
Loss of control over a project, greater financial outlay when implementing technological solutions with an external company rather than an internal team, complexity of a proprietary process that is considered unique and special... And in the finance sector, believing that my company's billing process is the most special and unique on the planet.
Yes, these are all thoughts that technology companies like easyap very often encounter. This is in addition, of course, to the challenges already posed by implementing an online invoicing solution like the one we developed. In the end, they are just more obstacles that many customers add to the processes.
And how do we solve them? By highlighting the many advantages of outsourcing a project (in our case, digital invoicing). Here are some of the benefits that we always highlight, based on our own experience:
- You don't lose control of the process, because when you implement our solution, which is compatible with any accounting or ERP package, you will have everything you need to manage and administer it.
- It only took us a few weeks to implement the solution.
- Initial setup costs are included, but the final price will depend on each company's turnover.
- We have experience in developing this solution in the vast majority of sectors as diverse as banking, human resources, and automotive, among many others.
- Over 20 years of extensive experience working on international projects in Europe, America, and North African countries.
In addition, we also wanted to emphasize the fact that we are specialists in this type of technological product related to invoicing. In other words, even if you have an in-house IT team, technology is becoming increasingly broad and requires greater specialization in each of its areas.
Therefore, it is best not to think that something as important and complex as digitizing processes can be done can be done by anyone with a basic understanding of computer science. A pastry chef, even if they are an expert in the kitchen, will not be able to create a menu of canapés with complete confidence. The same is true of a web application developer, who, no matter how much they know about computer science, will not be able to implement a billing solution like the one we can offer you at easyap.
Trust and experience is what we offer you and what you should rely on as a a CFO or entrepreneur in this new digital world. So, shall we talk?
