If you’re running your own business, especially a small business, you might not consider technology a huge part of the work that you do. But should it be?
It’s an increasingly popular saying that “all companies are tech companies”, and while this isn’t literally true, there is truth to it.
In a world that operates on technology and the internet, it’s crucial to keep your tech know-how up to date and understand the importance of technology in business (even in small business). Running a business with pen and paper won’t cut it in the internet era and there’s simply too much to do.
But how can tech help your company?
If you’re still resistant to spending that extra money on tech, keep reading to learn all about why you should probably increase your tech budget.
Tech Helps Efficiency
Every business owner wants their business to be more efficient, right?
A strong tech team can increase the efficiency of your business and improve the overall flow of how things work.
Depending on what your business is, there are multiple ways in which technology can boost the overall efficiency. For example, if you sell a product or run a restaurant, technology can be set up that tells you exactly what has been sold, what needs to be sold quickly (or has been in storage too long) and what needs to be purchased for restock.
This is something that people have been doing by hand for ages, but the added efficiency of tech frees you and your employees up for other things aside from inventory.
It can also help track business trends so that you know what is worth investing time and money in, and what simply isn’t working out for your company. This information can be hard to track without the aid of a dedicated technology team or service.
Technology Helps Communication in the Workplace
No matter the size of your team, well-utilized tech can really help with interpersonal communication in the workplace.
This can be implemented in several ways depending on the kind of business that you’re working with.
For example, in the restaurant industry (which generally disregards tech as a high-priority need), technology can help waitstaff connect with back-of-house staff and bartenders to quickly serve your customers.
Customers place an order, a waitstaff member inputs it into a point of sale system (or other similar technology that you’ve had set up by a member of your tech team), that information goes straight to the cooks and to the bartenders so everyone is able to work smoothly together.
In other fields, tech allows you to hold meetings anywhere. This opens up options for times of crisis when in-person meetings might not be possible. It also allows the option for occasional remote work if that’s something that your workplace allows, or has in mind. People who work remotely even once per month are 24% more likely to be productive.
Similarly, it allows employees to share information and troubleshoot amongst themselves. If you or an employee is having a computer problem, a member of your tech team can easily help with screen-sharing apps to help guide them through it instead of struggling through awkward phone conversations with IT professionals.
These screen-sharing apps can help problem solve and share information quickly amongst the team.
Learn more about them here: https://setapp.com/how-to/top-screen-sharing-mac-apps
Good Tech Boosts Security
Having a good and qualified tech team or member on staff is crucial for the security of your business in a time of high cybercrime. Cybercrime generated at least $1.5 trillion in revenue in 2018. That’s a lot of money!
Your business is not immune to cybercrime.
Having a strong technology presence, though, will help.
Investing in people who know how to protect your assets and funds is crucial to running a business. They’ll also be able to protect your customers’ information, preventing a scandalous and embarrassing information breach.
If you want to protect yourself and your customers, you need to invest in tech.
Customer Communication
A business with clear and easy customer communication is a business that’s headed for success. Part of the importance of technology in business is how it improves the customer experience.
Customers like it when things are easy. They like websites that are easy to navigate and businesses that are easy to access online.
Live chats, easy appointment forms, and swift and reliable service and shipping are all elements of technology that your business might be missing out on.
Less Downtime
A business that goes into an internet blackout can lose a ton of profit in a very short amount of time. Everyone runs online now, it’s pretty unavoidable.
If you don’t have a dedicated tech team or worker that you’re paying for, you probably don’t have any kind of IT plan to support this situation. You’ll also likely have to wait for an outsourced IT worker to come help you solve the problem which can cost you hours of profits.
Paying the money to have dedicated team members working on your technology for you all the time will not prevent blackouts, but it will help fix them more quickly. They’ll see the problem immediately, sometimes before it happens, and they’ll be able to find the source with ease because they know the system.
Spending less on tech upfront because you don’t feel the need for it means spending more on tech in the long run.
The Importance of Technology in Business Makes it Worth Spending Money On
Does your business have a large enough technology budget? If not, you might want to start reconsidering before it’s too late. There are plenty of ways that tech can improve your business and save you from going under.
For more business articles and news, visit the rest of our site. There’s plenty to learn about running your company effectively in 2020.