Technology is your small business’s best friend.
Through the power of technology, you can reach more customers, store your data in the cloud, allow employees to work from home, and so much more. This is why you must embrace technology instead of running away from it. Even if you’re not a tech-savvy business owner, you can experience the benefits of using technology and pass them on to your employees. It’s a no-brainer.
In terms of where you should start on your technology journey, this guide is going to provide you with some tips and tricks — no complexity, no big expenses. Then, once you implement the tips and tricks, you can transform your small business for the better and start to grow it, which is ultimately what you want.
Here’s what you need to do.
Use Technology to Streamline Different Tasks and Operations
The general aim of business technology is that you use it to streamline specific tasks and operations. This way, you can make life easier for your employees, as they won’t need to do as much manual work.
Good Example: Compliance processes. Every business must follow industry rules, policies, and regulations to avoid getting into trouble. However, keeping track of all this can be quite hard. Thankfully, you can streamline compliance processes using GRC software technology. As a result, you’ll be able to see real-time insights into your compliance processes, improve your decision-making, and then make changes where necessary. Smart, right?
Of course, technology can also help you streamline countless other areas. Another example would be HR management, which you can streamline using HR management software. From PTO scheduling to sending training manuals to employees, everything can be done either automatically or at the click of a button, which is great to know.
Move to Cloud Storage
Rather than storing all of your business data on a hard drive, you should migrate your data to the cloud. Through cloud storage, you can then experience amazing benefits such as:
- Reduced storage costs
- Keep your data more secure
- Make data and files easy to access for both in-office and remote employees
As of 2023, 94% of businesses now use cloud services (Zippia), so you’re putting your small business at a disadvantage by not doing this as well.
Use a CRM System
A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is an incredibly powerful tool that most small and big businesses use. Essentially, a CRM system is a smart platform where you can manage all of your existing customers and potential customers. As a result, you can provide better customer service, know which leads to chase and follow up on, and gain access to automated sales reports. There’s a lot to love and very little to dislike about having a CRM system, so it’s recommended you start using one.
Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly
Do you have a website and is it mobile-friendly? If your business site isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re putting yourself at a major disadvantage. Here’s a closer look at why.
Not many business owners know this, but Google primarily uses the mobile version of a business site to decide search engine ranking. Essentially, what this means is that the more mobile-friendly and mobile-optimized your business site is, the higher you’ll rank on Google.
You can make your website mobile-friendly by using a responsive layout, avoiding pop-ups, and making each section and sub-section easy to navigate. If you need help with this, you can outsource these tasks to a web design company.
