Published on October 8th, 2020 | by Sunit Nandi
04 Ways Tech Can Help Your Business Thrive
Owning a business is a complex matter. While it represents financial freedom, it also comes with its fair share of challenges that will test you at every turn. Many businesses don’t survive their first year, and that’s because a small business is lacking the safety net needed to survive even simple mistakes early on. However, making smarter decisions can mitigate these risks. Here’s what you need to know.
Organizational Apps
Managing a company is no easy feat. You’ll have to keep track of many employees, sometimes in multiple teams each with their own roles. Likewise, you’ll need to keep track of your finances and inventory. Organization makes the difference between a well oiled machine and a rusty hunk of junk, and technology provides a great solution. Organizational apps are all the rage right now because they can simplify the complex and make things run much more smoothly. For example, a time tracking app can help you monitor the time worked by employees when you can’t monitor them directly, and a time card calculator can help turn that figure into a calculation of wages earned without the need for a payroll department.
IoT Technology
Many of these organizational apps also fall under the banner of IoT (Internet of Things) technology. This philosophy design is that of interconnectivity and the consolidation of functionality. In much the same way that a time card calculator turns hours worked into wages earned, IoT security cameras automatically upload recorded footage onto the cloud in order to reduce the number of steps the proprietor of the system needs to take. Likewise, IoT technology specializes in allowing many devices to communicate with a central hub, enabling them to be controlled remotely. IoT provides networking capabilities among devices other than computers, boosting productivity as a result of providing a sort of automation to your business’s operations and sometimes eliminating certain roles entirely.
Cloud Computing
Along the same lines as IoT technology, cloud computing provides a boost to efficiency via interconnectivity. Cloud computing is the next step in networking. It enables a collection of computers to be connected in collaboration, but this is done in a way that enables entirely new computing techniques. In addition to the sharing of files via cloud storage, a private cloud boosts efficiency by allowing machines to lend each other processing power and computational assets. This allows a cloud network to make quick work of otherwise resource intensive calculations, which is an essential part of modern data processing. The ultimate benefit of cloud computing is that it makes the workplace a more collaborative place and a more productive place. This is why cloud technology is becoming standard in many businesses, particularly those with a lot of data to process.
Social Media
Social media is perhaps the most potent marketing tool available in the digital age. This is largely because of the large number of social media users, but it also has a lot to do with the suite of marketing tools it makes available to businesses. In addition to paid advertising, social media enables free posting not only of ads, but also announcements and other content. This can save a business a lot of money spent on the traditional means of accomplishing these things. Likewise, it saves you money on market research by enabling the free, instantaneous acquisition of feedback from consumers. Users can comment on posts for more detailed feedback, but even the purely numerical metrics of likes and shares is of immense value when it comes time to refine your approach and make your next move.
Managing a business isn’t an easy thing to do. There are myriad factors a business owner needs to keep in mind at any given moment, many of which are people with their own needs and goals. However, technology has a way of making things easier not only in your private life, but also in your place of business. These tools and tips will help you make the most of your business and thrive for years to come.