It’s nearly impossible to run a small business without getting help from technology. Before you let larger businesses get the upper hand, consider whether these 5 technological secrets could help you compete.
1. Use Inexpensive Point-of-Sale Technology
Sometimes, you can only sell your items by going where the customers are. Places like festivals, flea markets, and farmers markets make great places to publicize your small business while making some money.
To take advantage of this opportunity, though, you need to accept multiple forms of payment. If you only take cash, you’ll lose customers who simply don’t have enough money on them.
Affordable point-of-sale technology makes it simple to accept credit card and online payments from practically any location. Some popular options like PayPal Here and Square will give you free credit card readers that plug right into your tablet or smartphone.
You pay a small percentage for the service, but you can easily make up for that with increased sales.
2. Make Your Business More Efficient With BYOD
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) gives employees a chance to use their personal devices at work. According to research, 64 percent of IT managers believe that BYOD improves productivity. About 42 percent of employees agree.
There are some concerns with starting a BYOD program. You have to make sure everyone has compatible devices and that they understand how to protect any private information stored on their mobile devices.
You also might need to convince employees to upgrade to newer phones. Upcoming holiday specials can make the newest technology more affordable. If you can afford to do so, you might even provide a stipend that helps employees purchase faster devices with more memory.
3. Outsource Small, Essential Tasks
Your business needs an accountant to track the flow of money. It also needs human resource professionals who know how to hire valuable team members, train new hires, and write policies that set office standards.
As a small business owner, though, you probably don’t need a full-time accountant or human resource manager. You just don’t have 40 hours of work for them to finish every week.
Instead of wasting a full-time salary and benefits package on someone who essentially works part-time, consider outsourcing those small, essential tasks.
Plenty of Web-based companies have dedicated professionals who provide services to small businesses.
4. Invest in Time Tracking Software
Inefficient businesses face serious obstacles in today’s high-tech, competitive world. Anything you can do to improve your business’s efficiency will take you one step closer to success.
The most efficient small businesses have abandoned pen and paper in favor of software that plans schedules and tracks projects. Time tracking software can show you exactly where your business falters. That can put you on track to discovering ways to improve efficiency while meeting customer demand.
Some top pieces of time tracking software include:
- Timesheet (Android), free
- Timely (PC), expect to pay about $10 per month
- Fanurio (PC), $59 licensing fee
The specific features can vary significantly between scheduling and time tracking software. Take a close look at your business’s needs so you can find an option that truly helps your business improve. Many time tracking products offer trial periods that you can use to decide whether you want to commit to the full, paid version.
5. Turn to the Cloud
Cloud computing has gotten a lot of bad press lately. Celebrity scandals will do that. Despite the concerns raised by these scandals, small businesses should still consider whether they can benefit from using a secure cloud service.
Cloud computing helps many small businesses by lowering prices and improving efficiency. Some businesses choose to rely on the cloud because:
- They want to access files from any device at the office or home
- They don’t want to spend money on dedicated servers
- They know cloud services can update software faster than small offices with several computers
The cloud isn’t right for everyone, but it’s an option you should explore.
As technology advances, small businesses will have even more options. What types of products would help your business thrive? What features do you want most?
Teddy Hunt is a freelance content writer with a focus on technology. When not behind a computer, Teddy spends the majority of his free time outdoors and resides in Tampa, Florida. Follow Teddy on Twitter: @tedhunt9.
BYOD is a great trend which is developing now-a-days. It makes work more easier and thus increases productivity.
Also Time tracking has become important to get more output in the desired time.
I’d like to suggest a few other tech secrets! Harvester is another good time tracking piece of software. Also consider using Gmail for Business and have everyone using Google Drive or DropBox in the office, it can simplify file sharing and collaboration. Depending on the size of your team you should also consider testing out different CRMs to see what works best with your team. Tech tools are only as effective as the people willing to use them.
Teddy, benefits of SaaS based tools low cost and high availability. Saves time and money! Outsourcing really helps you save time, personally experienced to build a 100 people empire now!
It has always been a necessity to make modifications to an organization’s best practices in order to stay abreast with the changing conditions in the market. An efficient management software permits the business owner to make pauses in its business processes, implement changes and re-execute it.
The days of the office runner passing information from desk to desk are certainly over; the speed that business software can perform the same tasks has completely usurped the runner’s position. As with much in the modern world, rapidity and efficiency are paramount.
Business Software tools are exceptionally well-suited for powerful data and process mining. It analyzes, processes and renders vast amounts of data that cannot be managed with weaker programs. It integrates with data warehousing solutions, in-house databases, structured and unstructured data. It can manage so much data that allows easy access to valuable information that businesses might otherwise miss.
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Its always compulsory to use a technology to run your business. There are many software and business technologies which can help you to expand your business. And most of business men use many technologies to manage their business like some use paper management, some use time tracking or workforce management software, and some use computer programs to develop and manage their business when they are out of area or out in field.
Making use of personal devices and the cloud definitely makes work a lot more efficient if you can successfully prevent any privacy threats – and that’s not such a difficult task. Thanks for sharing!
Business software integrates with data warehousing solutions, in-house databases, structured and unstructured data. It can manage so much data that allows easy access to valuable information that businesses might otherwise miss.
Nice post! Dealing with customer’s data could be very difficult at times. For this, FAMcare case management software is designed to enable you to organize, consolidate, communicate, and legitimize your client’s information on a whole new level.