So you've taken your passion and made it into a business. You anticipated the hard work, the budgeting, the marketing, and the sales; but what you didn't expect was to be thrown into the deep end of buying and managing technology. You are not alone. Many small business owners find that to be competitive they have to quickly come up to speed as to how technology affects their business. These days even small business owners need to be tech savvy. That doesn't necessarily mean that you have to become an expert, but you do have to know how to match technology spending to your core business needs.

As the Internet boom and bust of the late '90s showed us, technology is not a silver bullet. It must be managed like a business, with clearly defined costs, benefits, and objectives.

Start by thinking about what your company needs to run smoothly, serve its customers, and support its staff. What are your core business needs and what are your problem areas? Then ask yourself if technology can be used to address any of these needs, solve any of these problems, or perhaps make a marked improvement in the development of the business.