4 Ways to Use Technology in Your Small Business

You can use technology to improve productivity, streamline marketing, increase security and expand your small businesses communication.

Technology is changing the face of the modern workplace now more than ever.

Regardless of the size of the business, technology can offer benefits that will enable your teams to successfully do their jobs and aid in customer satisfaction.

Think your business isn’t big enough to make use of tech?

Technology is just as important for small, tall and all businesses alike…

It enables small business owners to leverage limited capital in smarter, more efficient ways. Complexity and budget are no longer dis-qualifiers for small business owners. Today, technologies can be applied in business, more quickly and easily than ever before, creating opportunities for companies to reach a broader audience. Also, businesses can scale up more easily and painlessly.

In this post I’m going to cover 4 key areas that you can use technology to improve your small business.

1.    Productivity

It is in every business’ interest to optimize their productivity — That’s where the value is added.

Just look at the way technology can improve productivity:

• Time tracking software allows us to see exactly where and how are we spending our time.

• We can use this insight to learn, build upon it, and become more productive by streamlining our business processes.

• Task management tools, much in the same way, allow us to effectively track our daily responsibilities and business management software can also help you in the long run when performing yearly performance reviews, and optimizing your workflow. This minimizes the probability for error or tasks simply getting forgotten in the daily business life.

• Email management can be handled efficiently with today’s tools that are commonplace for some time now. They ensure that every message is answered and nothing is forgotten.

2.    Marketing

It has never been easier for small businesses to get their message across to an audience.

Whether you’re establishing an online business or a brick-and-mortar one, you certainly need to market it in order to succeed. Again, technology can help us create the best marketing plans, ones that we can update when needed and share with all interested development parties.

Social media sites are a perfect example.

They are the go-to portals for promoting any business, small or large. Everyone is on one social media platform or another. It is very easy for a potential client to hear about, or get in touch with your company.

Furthermore, interaction and feedback from clients are transparent and effortless. Never has it been easier to communicate with customers in order to build a better product, service, or experience for all involved. For us to effectively use social media, we need to stay up-to-date with all of the latest trends and techniques. It does require active involvement on our part.

3.    Security

Security, primarily of sensitive information and data, has become a big topic as of late.

As our daily interaction with the world becomes more digitized, personal information becomes much more vulnerable and open to attacks. Much in the same way, business information can be compromised if the right technology is not set in place. Malicious, tech-savvy individuals and organizations are constantly attempting to use the same technology to gain access to this sensitive information.

Such software often includes deterrents from such attacks and keep our information safe. It is often even mandatory to implement these technologies in order to prevent such breaches of security. Making sure that the right information is accessible only by the right people is paramount. Encrypted passwords are just one example of how we can protect ourselves from private information leaks.

4.    Communication

Rarely has the change that technology has brought been more visible anywhere else that in the communication industry.

Thanks to all the advancements in the various form of telecommunication department we can literally connect to any employee or co-worker at anytime, anywhere. This opens up a whole other world for us as we are not hindered by the obstacles of being physically separated one from another. Teamwork has changed very rapidly and is advanced to a whole new level in just a couple of decades. Gone are the days when companies had to send employees physically to a select location in order to do business. Teleconferencing and group video conferences are ubiquitous nowadays, as well as document sharing. All can be attributed to the ever-growing fast internet connections around the world. Actual work can also be done remotely more efficiently than ever before. The commute is, therefore, less of a problem and companies have much more flexibility in leave policies. It brings us closer together personally and professionally and puts a human face on our business.

New and emerging technologies are offering small businesses the opportunities to connect with audiences and to scale over time into something bigger. It is easier now more than ever to compete with industry giants without worries of being overshadowed by them. With all the different options we have available it is up to us and our business to customize them according to our needs.