Your Tech Team Thinks You Don't Get It. Your Business Team Thinks They're From Another Planet.

Here's Why You're Both Right (And Why It's Costing You)

A 10-minute read that could transform how you think about technology in your business

Let me guess.

You're running a successful business - somewhere between £3M - £15M turnover, 30 - 150 employees. You're profitable, you've got a solid market position, loyal customers, and a team that delivers.

But there's this nagging feeling about technology.

Your IT manager speaks in acronyms. Your Finance Director controls the tech budget but glazes over during system discussions. Your sales team complains about "ancient" CRM while IT mutters about "unrealistic expectations."

Meanwhile, that competitor who started five years after you just launched a slick customer portal. Your biggest client asked if you have an API. And everyone keeps talking about "digital transformation" like it's something you can buy off the shelf.

Sound familiar?

Here's the thing: This isn't a communication problem. It's a structural failure that's slowly strangling your business.

The £2 Million Problem Hiding in Plain Sight

I recently analysed 200 SMEs in your size bracket. The ones who've cracked the technology code are growing 23% faster and operating 19% more efficiently than those still treating IT like the plumbing.

That's not a marginal gain. For a £10M business, that's £2.3M in additional revenue.

Every. Single. Year.

But what really got my attention is this: The problem isn't that these struggling companies don't invest in technology. They do. They just invest in the wrong things, in the wrong way, for the wrong reasons.

The Real Problem: You've Built a Time Bomb

Let's be brutally honest about what's actually happening in your business:

1. You've Got an Accidental Tech Leader (And They Know It)

In two of every three of businesses your size, there's no real technology leadership. Instead, your CFO is "overseeing IT" because they control the budgets. Or your Operations Director "handles systems" because they complain the loudest when things break.

Here's why that's killing you: Imagine having your IT manager run your finance team. Both your CFO and your IT manager are brilliant at their jobs, but you can't put them in each other's roles.

The result? Your CFO will filter every technology decision through a cost-control lens. Every innovation gets suffocated by ROI calculations. Every strategic opportunity gets reduced to a line item.

2. You've Created a Hero Culture (And Heroes Don't Scale)

You know that IT person who saved the day when your server crashed? The one who works weekends to keep things running? The one everyone calls when something breaks?

They're not a hero. They're a symptom.

In high-performing companies, IT prevents fires. In struggling ones, they fight them.

And what's really painful: Fire-fighting feels valuable. It's visible, urgent, and appreciated. Fire prevention? Invisible, expensive, and thankless.

So your tech team stays in permanent crisis mode. They never have time for strategy because they're too busy being tactical. And you keep rewarding them for it.

3. You're Playing Tennis While Your Competitors Are Playing Chess

Your technology team thinks in projects: "Implement new CRM." "Upgrade servers." "Fix security."

Your competitors think in capabilities: "Create seamless customer experiences." "Enable data-driven decisions." "Build scalable operations."

See the difference?

You're optimising pieces while they're transforming the game. You're solving today's problems while they're building tomorrow's advantages.

The Mindset Shifts That Change Everything

Here's what separates the winners from the also-rans:

Shift 1: From Cost Center to Growth Engine

Stop asking "What does IT cost?" Start asking "What can technology enable?"

A company I know, a £12M distribution business, made this shift. Instead of grudgingly approving IT budgets, they started asking: "How can technology help us win that major account?" "What would it take to cut delivery times by 50%?"

Result: 40% revenue growth in 18 months. Not from working harder, but from working smarter.

Shift 2: From Perfect to Profitable

Your tech team wants elegant solutions. Your business needs quick wins. Both are right, and both are wrong.

The magic happens when you blend technical excellence with commercial pragmatism. Stop trying to choose sides - create a shared language.

Shift 3: From Reactive to Strategic

Stop treating technology like facilities management. Start treating it like business development.

Would you make major sales decisions without your Sales Director? Then why make technology decisions without technology leadership?

The Solution Most SMEs Miss: Fractional Leadership

Here's the brutal truth: You can't afford a full-time CTO who's worth having. Good ones command £150k - £250k+. But you also can't afford not to have strategic technology leadership.

Enter the fractional CTO model.

It's like having a Finance Director who only comes in two days a week - except for technology.

You get:

• Strategic thinking without the strategic salary
• Experience from someone who's solved your problems before
• Knowledge transfer to build your internal capabilities
• Objective perspective without political baggage

Companies using this model report 67% improvement in technology-business alignment within 12 months. That's goes a bit beyond incremental - that's transformational.

Your 20-Minute Reality Check

Want to know where you really stand? Here's a simplified version of our diagnostic tool.

Score yourself honestly:

Leadership & Governance (Rate each 0-5):

• Do you have C-level technology leadership (internal or fractional)?
• Does technology participate in strategic planning from day one?
• Do you evaluate tech investments strategically, not just financially?
• Can your senior team speak intelligently about technology?
• Do you measure technology's business impact, not just uptime?

Culture & Mindset (Rate each 0-5):

• Is technology seen as strategic capability or necessary evil?
• Do you treat technical failures as learning opportunities?
• Do business and technology teams genuinely collaborate?
• Do you actively explore emerging technologies?
• Does your tech team think strategically or just tactically?

Operational Reality (Rate each 0-5):

• Are your core systems integrated or held together with duct tape?
• Do you manage technical debt or wait for crisis? Do you know what tech debt is?
• What percentage of IT time goes to strategic vs. firefighting?
• Could your systems handle 10x growth?
• Are vendor relationships partnerships or necessary evils?

Strategic Value (Rate each 0-5):

• What percentage of revenue comes from tech-enabled services?
• Does technology differentiate you or just keep you running?
• How fast can you launch new tech-enabled initiatives?
• Does technology enhance customer experience or just process transactions?
• Do you have an innovation pipeline or just a maintenance queue?

Scoring:

• 80-100: You're ahead of the curve. Keep pushing.
• 60-79: You're average. Your competitors are catching up.
• 40-59: You're behind. Act now before it's too late.
• Below 40: You're in crisis. This is now survival, not strategy.

The Choice You Can't Avoid

Every day you delay addressing this is a day your competitors pull further ahead. The question isn't whether you need to fix this - it's whether you'll fix it proactively or reactively.

The companies that get this right don't just grow faster. They become fundamentally different businesses. More agile. More scalable. More valuable.

The ones that don't? They become case studies in disruption.

Your Next Steps

1. Take the diagnostic seriously. If you scored below 60, you need help.
2. Stop pretending this will fix itself. It just won't. It requires leadership.
3. Consider fractional leadership. Even one day a week of strategic technology leadership can transform your trajectory.
4. Start conversations differently. Stop asking "What will it cost?" Start asking "What will it enable?"
5. Build bridges. Get your business and technology people in the same room. Create shared language. Align incentives.

The Bottom Line

You built a successful business by being brilliant at what you do. But the game has changed. Technology isn't just supporting your business anymore. It IS your business.

The companies that understand this are eating market share. The ones that don't are becoming irrelevant.

Which one do you want to be?

If this resonated, let's talk. I help SME leaders bridge the technology-business divide through fractional CTO services and strategic advisory. Because your business deserves technology leadership that speaks both languages.

What's your biggest technology-business alignment challenge? Share in the comments - I read and respond to all of them.

#growth #entrepreneurship #technology