Game-Changing Technologies Employed By Successful Small Businesses
by Abdul Aziz Mondal Business 13 April 2023
Successful businesses have things in common and though luck may figure in, it isn’t the most salient aspect of their success. A sound business plan is a foundation upon which any success will be built. If the elements of that plan are the vision, technology is the scaffolding that raises any potentially successful small business to the 21st-century norm, which is this: if a business isn’t utilizing technology, it is not achieving maximum earning potential.
To that point, according to the US Chamber of Commerce, 93 percent of small business owners report employing one or more technology platforms to keep those businesses running smoothly. Many reports use three or more, which is logical when you consider that technology is like an octopus, whose cyber-tentacles have reached into every aspect of business, from inventory management to security to marketing.
Services such as Kubernetes consultancy offer small businesses an easier way to implement technologies to leverage success. Consultants can help companies to scale their operations within the platforms they use and find easier ways to collaborate and innovate with the tools they have. No matter the technological process or platform, this support can enable small businesses to better utilize digital services to streamline processes and focus on their roadmap for growth.
Read on for technologies that can powerfully boost small business success.
Inventory Management Software
Tim Cook famously said that inventory is like dairy products and nobody wants to buy spoiled milk. Sound inventory management software will help you to automate elements of that important aspect of the business so that you have neither too much of that milk, nor too little. When you’re tracking everything that goes through your warehouse with efficiency – and using less manpower to do so – you’re necessarily better apt to understand the lifespan of your inventory. The more profound your ability to see how things are flowing, the easier it will be to effect the changes that will keep your brand relevant.
High-performance software delivery, multi-cloud flexibility, and IT cost optimization, among other things, are a true reflection of how technology can be employed to bring efficacy to bear on any situation, including inventory management. Any business owner knows how crucial it is to have enough products to meet consumer demand and how hard it can be to avoid both overstock and low inventory.
The right inventory software can provide cohesion and transparency, though inventory management can look like many things, given the type of business and the products that are sold. There are many types of systems that work for just about any business type, each having its merits. Four types that provide different offerings and opportunities include just-in-time management, materials requirement planning, economic order quantity, and daily sales of inventory.
Cybersecurity System
Cybersecurity is an essential expenditure. Statistics show that there is a cyberattack every 39 seconds. In 2022, businesses spent about $6 trillion dealing with cybersecurity damage. Cybersecurity, then, is the ultimate pre-emptive measure when it comes to keeping your firm’s precious information safe.
Because cybersecurity threats are diverse, it’s important to realize what is currently wreaking havoc in the business world. Currently, malware and ransomware account for a huge percentage of cyber threats, with malware attacks up by 358 percent and ransomware attacks up by 435 percent from recent years. When you factor in that 95 percent of all cybersecurity attacks are facilitated by human error, you can see how important training can be, to prevent your employees from accidentally letting the bad elements in. Have you thought about your business’s password protocols lately?
Social Media
There’s never been an easier time to reach existing and potential customers. A staggering 93 percent of marketers around the world employ social media to reach their clients. According to the Harris Poll, 55 percent of consumers learn about new brands via social media. By 2025, there are expected to be 243 million social media users in America. 68 percent of today’s users agree that social media is a two-way street, allowing them to interact with the brands that they are interested in.
Employing social media, then, has never been more important. Using social media platforms like Meta, Twitter, and Instagram to advertise products, poll customers, and offer exciting new offers is more effective when you take the time to figure out what demographics are using which platforms.
Studies show that after ten years, only about 30 percent of small businesses are still solvent. It’s a fickle world in which even the talented, organized, and hard-working can be swallowed in an instant. Technology not only represents the direction that businesses have and will always trend, but it also makes myriad elements of business simpler. From automation to the ability to send personalized messages to your customers while they’re sitting on their couches to efficiency when it comes to keeping the books, technology simply outperforms humans in all of these areas and more.
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