Technology and business go hand-in-hand. The premise is simple – technology can adjust and handle an increased workload. It gives you the ability to take on new opportunities to make your business more efficient in its operations. This enables you to consider the possibility of expanding and entering new markets.
Some entrepreneurs might consider investing in technology a challenge, but if it is done and deployed properly, it will drastically improve the way you do business. It has the capacity to increase sales, boost employee productivity, and ease miscommunication and error in your daily operations. No matter what size your company might be, technology has both tangible and intangible benefits.
Here are 5 technology tips that every small business needs to know.
1. Consider Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System
Enterprise Resource Planning is all-purpose software that can do anything from accounting, inventory, human resource, warehouse operations, finances, and a lot more. ERP software like SAP and Microsoft Dynamics NAV help integrate all your core business processes and enable you to stay ahead of the competition. A lot of people find it challenging to find the right ERP software for their business.
However, if you research your needs thoroughly and seek expert advice, you will be able to choose the right technology for you. You can also involve employees in the process of selecting a program. Having ERP software gives the different departments of your company transparent access to relevant data. This will result in less error, increased productivity, and reduced expenses on human resource. ERP software provides real-time data that is beneficial for management to make effective business decisions and adapt to rapidly changing business environment.
2. Connect With Customers
Every business owner knows that one of the most important factors in doing a successful business venture is taking care of your customers. There has to be customer intimacy. You have to understand their needs and you need to tailor your products and services to suit what they want. For small businesses, having Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is an effective way for them to stay competitive in the ever-changing landscape of their chosen industry.
CRM software can store detailed information about your customers’ behaviors and enables targeted marketing, product development, and sales activities. You need to make your business more efficient to keep increasing revenue.
3. Engage in Social Media
Social media can be considered as one of the fastest and most reliable ways to connect with people all around the world. If you have a business, having an online presence will efficiently validate your brand. A lot of companies use social media sites for them to market the products and services that they are offering.
It also enables your customers to easily get in touch with you. For you to successfully utilize social media to your advantage, you have to set goals, know your target audience, decide on the type of digital media you want to focus on, have a social media strategy, and constantly analyze your engagements, for you to know if there is something to be changed or improved.
4. Optimize Your Website
Just like having social media identity, it is also important for your company to have its own website. You can use your own website to showcase your products and services to your customers. It also gives credibility because, in this technology-rich world, people tend to trust businesses that have their own website.
You can optimize your site by researching keywords and creating content based on that, speeding it up for users, using landing pages, and update your page titles every now and then for them to rank up in search engines to create traffic. These methods can be efficiently executed by a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialist. An SEO Specialist helps you make your website more popular in Google.
5. Boost Efficiency with Productivity Tools
These are computer programs which allow users to create specific items quickly and easily rather than doing these things by hand. Some examples of these tools are Word Processing, Spreadsheets, and Databases. Productivity tools can be considered as game-changers for entrepreneurs. One of the most common productivity tools is Microsoft Office. It offers different programs like MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Outlook, just to mention a few.
On the other hand, databases and spreadsheets are commonly used for organizing, storing, calculating, sorting, and graphing information. These applications permit the creation of a whole new and calculated data. With these tools, you can precisely evaluate your company’s performance in the market and look for ways to improve your operations.
