When a business first starts running, you can get away with spreadsheets. However, soon enough this manual process will only slow down the business, impact customer experiences and potentially impede business growth. Some small businesses underestimate the importance of technology when it comes to running a successful business.
When a company experiences some growing pains, it usually fixes just one problem at a time often adding new systems and technology in a ‘slapdash’ kind of way. This short-sighted approach tends to create more problems in the long-term.
For example, you need software to manage sales leads, so you buy that. Then you need a system to automate your marketing, so you get that. But when these two pieces of technology are unable to communicate with each other, you have created silos of information that now require more manual work and double the effort. If you are spending time on unnecessary manual processes, that is time you are not investing in your business growth.
How Technology Enables Small Business Growth
The secret to successful start-ups is automating processes from the beginning and investing in the right technology that scales with your business as it grows. A plus side of having connected technology is that you have a complete information source and you can see an entire, real-time view of the business and make well-informed decisions accordingly.
How Do You Know You Are Investing In The Right Technology
The technology you are investing in should integrate easily into your business, both now and in the future. If the technology is making you change your business processes in a negative way just to be able to use it, you should consider this a red flag. Good technology is easily tailored to suit your business needs.
Make plans for your business growth and possible future scenarios. The industry you are in today make completely change in the future, and the right technology should be able to solve your problems today and evolve for what you need tomorrow.
Cloud Technology Has Created A More Even Playing Field
Technology has changed a lot. Before businesses would run applications or programs that had been downloaded on a physical computer or server. It was expensive and not flexible and for many small businesses beyond reach. Now cloud technology has levelled the playing field, allowing small businesses access to the same technology as large companies. With no initial outlay or ongoing maintenance cost, the annual subscription fee puts small businesses in a competitive position.
