It's very astute using the term "Tools". That is indeed what they are and they are proliferating. I embrace these assets and use them myself.
But as a small business counselor I always ask one strategic question of my clients "How to you select the tools to work on your car (simile for business)?"
Answer: One needs to know the make, model, the part of the auto that needs the work and the ultimate objective in working on the vehicle at all.
There is a new kind of monkey these days the technology monkey. That sucker will bury us if we don't learn to deal with him. We are so busy tending our gadgets that we lose site of priorities, get wound up in minutia and end up with a meaningless zoo.
I have noticed the symptoms of the technology monkey, particularly among the younger (Generation X and Y) entrepreneurs.
There seems to be a belief that automation, the Internet and social networking can make the business succeed when in fact the real design of the enterprise itself is lacking (niche, market base, business plan, competitive analysis and financial forecasting)
I hear from many clients who ask, "What Now?" having launched an enterprise that is going nowhere because they are driving the tools and not the car.
I take them back to the garage, design the auto to see if it can run and then apply the wrenches retroactively if that is possible. It is usually a traumatic experience and could have been avoided with strategic and business planning before launch.
Courtesy of Kenneth Larson, SCORE Advisor