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As a small businesses owner, you may find that fast-paced technical change makes it difficult to know which tools to adopt. But failure to act can leave you lagging behind the competition. Outdated processes will continue to have a real impact on your efficiency and profits. Leaders who can effectively embrace and adapt to relevant technology lead their industries. Here are some strategies to see that you remain ahead of the technology curve.
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Online Funding
Even if you have great credit and strong cash flows, taking out loans from traditional lenders for expansion may put you farther behind, especially if your investments don’t provide the return you want. An increasing popular option today is crowd-funding websites, where you can appeal to numerous donors or investors for smaller contributions from each. Familiarity with the process can mean pumping cash into your business on an almost constant basis.
Social Networks
LinkedIn, Twitter, and especially Facebook have millions of daily users. If you can discover what platforms and content you target market prefers, you can grow a huge following that will share or re-tweet your posts to grow your market visibility. You have to consistently provide appealing, useful content, and actually engage with your audience, but social posts can reach far more people than ad placement at a tiny fraction of the cost.
Adopt New Technologies
Choosing the right tools will streamline your operations. When you identify issues, you can start shopping for a tool that will empower employees to do more. This could be specialized software for specific teams, or company-wide software that benefits everyone. For example, ERP (enterprise resource planning) solutions through businesses like Maximum Computer Systems allow you to combine functions like ordering, inventory, purchasing, scheduling, and labor into one central solution that promotes workforce collaboration.
Business in the Cloud
SaaS (software as a service) is a subscription-based resource where the software you need is accessed over the internet. You don’t have to worry about purchasing or maintaining software. The provider manages updates and offers scalability so you can budget technology efficiently. The drawback, however, is that you must rely on the provider and don’t have any control over the software.
Create a Mobile App
There will be an estimated 6.1 billion smartphones by 2020. Each phone is loaded with various apps. Many companies are producing their own apps to provide convenient services, whether it’s special deals, access to shopping carts, user histories, or billing statements. You can either give away your apps or charge a small fee, but the more useful and effectively branded it is, the more you’ll connect with mobile consumers.
By implementing technology into your business as investment opportunities rather than just random upgrades, you’ll get better value. Increased value and better service is passed onto your customers to accelerate and sustain growth.
