If you want to grow your business one of the best ways to do that is to keep up with the latest business tech. Business tech is transforming how business is done not only in the United States but globally.
Tapping into the latest business tech is helping small businesses cement their footing and finding the success that used to take ten years to realize. The latest business tech is helping businesses to grow at warp speed.
Every Industry is Relying On The Latest Business Tech
There is no such thing as an industry that cannot benefit from the latest business tech. Every industry regardless of what service or product is provided can benefit from the latest business tech. The statistics are there to back up the idea that business tech can improve how every single industry does business.
Consumers are driving the need for every business to take advantage of the latest business tech. Some of the statistics about consumers and how they are finding products and services is absolutely mind-blowing and really drives home the importance of the latest business tech. Here are some statistics about how consumers shop:
- 89% of consumers use the internet to find general contracting services. About the same amount of people use the internet to find dental services, medical care, and other professional services.
- 59% of consumers state that they will not recommend a business to a friend based on their experience with the business website design.
- 79% of people polled responded that they made a purchase in the last week online. 89% have made an online purchase in the last month.
Online ordering for garden supplies, DIY home repair and remodeling, home décor, clothing, and shoes is up by about 72% since the pandemic hit. Consumers report that they expect anyone that they are doing business with to have an easy to use app to schedule appointments, track their account, or make purchases.
A well-known app developer recently reported an increase of 200% in requests for app development for small businesses. This means your competition is taking advantage of this latest business tech to lure your customer base. Consumers downloaded about 204 billion apps during 2019. The power of the app is tremendous.
How can an app help your business? In 2016 the gross sales for mobile apps was $51 billion. Consumers’ interaction with mobile apps has grown by 63% this year alone. When apps first made the scene in the early 2000s it would cost a small fortune to have one developed, today the cost is way down which works out to any business advantage. Apps are more popular than ever and less expensive than ever to have developed.
Consumers are choosing businesses that can quickly meet their demands by using the latest business tech. In today’s market place fast turn arounds are expected, but that is not all consumers are expecting. They want to feel connected to the business. The latest business tech helps you to connect to your target audience, and keep them engaged with your business.
Developing Loyalty
It really does not matter what your business niche is, there are two goals, every business has. You need to develop your customer, client base, and you need to foster a sense of loyalty among your customers or clients so they keep on coming back. The latest business tech can do both.
How do you reach your target audience in today’s digital age? The internet. Social media marketing can reach trillions of viewers every day. A highly functional, visually exciting, that is also interactive, professionally designed website. Professional SEO marketing. Deploying an online marketing campaign is hands down the best way to reach your target audience today.
Of course, once you get their attention, the next step is keeping it, and according to one of the leading PR firms, the best way to keep your customers or clients coming back for more is using time-honored tactics like:
- Delivering on-time services.
- Maintaining a positive business reputation.
- Having the support staff that you need to deliver high-quality services.
The latest business tech is not just for getting the attention of your client or customer base, but it will help you to keep those clients and customers. For example, printing services can help you to keep clients and customers informed, provide direction, and highlight your products.
The latest business tech can help to scour the web for negative reviews about your business that can tarnish your business reputation. 86% of consumers report that they will read business reviews before they make a buying decision.
It is no mistake that more and more small business owners are subscribing to virtual offices and virtual support. Developing a trusted relationship with consumers often comes down to your ability to respond to consumers and have the right address to make the right impression.
Creating authority in your field and developing a trusted reputation whether you are selling your fine art or you are providing legal services all starts with tapping into the latest business tech that can improve your business’s reputation, meet client demands, and make it easier to manage your business.
Cost Savings
Today’s latest business tech delivers cost savings to any business. Twenty-five years ago you would need a full staff at considerable expense to do what the latest business tech can do for your business today. We touched on virtual offices and how more businesses are making the choice to subscribe to those services and here is why:
- Low overhead costs.
- Great support without long-term obligations.
- Makes a good impression.
Virtual arrangements depend highly on the latest business tech to help business owners keep costs down. You can have a “receptionist” to take messages. You can have a great business address without having to pay for an expensive lease. You can have mail forwarding services, customer care support, and so much more without ever leaving your own home.
Taking advantage of the latest tech for business can mean:
- Not having to pay full-time staff for back-office duties.
- Utilizing e-commerce payment systems.
- Meeting with clients virtually.
Offering your clients services like virtual meetings not only saves you on costs but it provides them with convenient access to your services. For example, you are a business litigation attorney, and you want to offer evening appointments to potential clients but you do not want to have to sit in the office until 9 pm every night. Virtual appointments set up on your laptop at home is a great solution, and it can be cost savings. In reality, you do not need an actual office anymore. You can do all of your business virtually at a great savings.
Keeping costs down has never been easier than it is today. There are over 24 million entrepreneurs in the US alone. The latest business tech is making owning your own business more affordable. Savvy business owners are tapping into the latest tech to start their business, run their business, and to keep it thriving. If you are not on the bandwagon yet, you better hurry, before the competition leaves you in the dust.
Business tech that automates a wide range of back-office activities like software that manages payroll, scheduling, and more can replace the need for staff. Automation can be extended to many of the typical office management activities.
Here are some automation option that is offered through the latest business tech:
- Accounting, bookkeeping, payroll management.
- Order fulfillment, inventory tracking, and customer service management.
- Client billing, client scheduling, updating records, and more.
By using the latest business tech to automate your business you can avoid traditional costs like employee salaries, paying for employee health benefits, training, and more. Automation through the latest tech will help your business to run smoothly and keep your customers and client base satisfied.
The Investment in the Latest Business Tech
The good news is that it is more affordable than ever to find the latest business tech to help your business blossom. As the technology becomes more readily available even businesses with a micro small business loan can find it in their budget to set aside some money to invest in the latest business tech.
You have to prioritize adding the latest business tech to your “cost of doing business” list because it is that necessary just like having a business litigation attorney on your side, having the right business tech on your side helps you grow and protect your business.
When it comes to ROI, there is no better place to invest some funding. The latest business tech pays for itself. The return can be tremendous. The real question is can you afford not to invest in the latest tech?
When you consider that your competition is likely taken advantage of the latest tech, it may motivate you to do the same. Here is where other businesses are putting their tech dollars:
- Mobile apps. 53% of small business owners say they plan on adding a mobile app option to their tech platform by 2022.
- 92% of small businesses use a cloud-based solution.
- 73% of small businesses have a website that results in 80% of their foot traffic.
If you are a little behind when you compare your business with where other small businesses are at with the latest tech, don’t get discouraged, you can catch up. There are still about 30% of small business owners that have been in business for more than a year that have yet to launch their website.
Final Words About Business Tech and How To Keep Up
Every business relies on some sort of business tech. Technology is constantly evolving, sometimes at lightning speed. How do you ensure that you stay on the cutting edge to get the most benefits? There are some suggestions that can help:
- Have your website professionally audited about every three to five years. About 64% of small business owners report that staying current means having their website revamped occasionally and adding new features. A professional audit can determine where your website needs some fine-tuning.
- End of life is impossible to avoid. Hardware will reach an expiration date. Keep your hardware up to date to avoid software problems and other issues.
- Use remote services. About 53% of small business owners have no formal IT management in place. That can be a tremendous mistake. Farm out your IT management needs. When you contract with an IT management team it puts the responsibility to keep you up to date in their hands.
It can be difficult to juggle all of your core responsibilities and worry about whether you are tapping into the power of the latest business tech. The solution is not to try to do it all on your own. There are plenty of businesses out there that can manage your tech, bring new options to you for review, and keep you current while you focus on your core business responsibilities.
The fact is that no matter how grand or good the tech is, everything has a life expectancy. With good monitoring, you will be able to replace the outdated or near end of life tech before it is finished. Staying abreast of expected service dates and improvements in hardware will help to ensure that your business never experiences critical errors that can shut things down for a while.
Tech is an integral part of how everyone does business now and it should be a part of how you do business. About 89% of small business owners report that their business model would not work without using the latest business tech as part of that model.
Additionally, a whopping 90% of small business owners report that the latest business tech has given them the power to multi-task effectively without sacrificing quality services to their client base. Business tech helps every business owner to stay mobile yet highly connected to their business at all times.
Don’t Miss Out
If you have been slow to take advantage of the tech options out there, now is the time to play catchup. Think of business much like Darwin’s theory “only the strong survive”. Those businesses that adapt will survive and thrive. Those companies that do not adapt will not survive.