Large multinational companies have come a long way from small brick-and-mortar businesses, and technology advancement has had a substantial influence on the transformation of different business industries. It brought about large-scale production and allowed companies to expand globally.
With this kind of climate, it is easier to start a business than to keep it going since the competition can be challenging. If you are still a little lost and reluctant to hop on board the technology train, here are five reasons to convince you otherwise by showing how you can benefit from upgrading your startup’s technology.
INCREASING OPERATIONAL SPEED
In the fast-paced world that we live in, efficiency equals speed in the sense that the faster you can get something done, the more efficient you are. The trick is to also provide the same level of quality when moving quickly.
The best way to go about this is to take a hard look at all the tasks and processes that make up your startup. After getting a comprehensive picture, you need to make a decision about which of them can be automated.
If you automate certain mundane tasks, they will be performed faster and without a glitch, while your employees would be free to dedicate their time to more creative tasks that demand their full attention. You can give them time and space to focus their efforts on developing growth strategies instead of mindlessly toiling over repetitive tasks. Besides, these repetitive tasks are often to blame for mistakes – since they are not mentally stimulating in any manner, they allow the employee’s thoughts to wander and this is how errors occur.
ALLOWING REMOTE ACCESS & PAPERLESS STORAGE
One of the biggest perks of introducing different software solutions is the possibility of remote access. For starters, cloud technology allows you to safely store your operational and customer data and for you and your employees to access it at any time from any location. This means that you can prepare for a meeting abroad while traveling to your destination and also hire remote workers which would expand your talent pool greatly.
Speaking of expansion, remote access is also significant if you plan on growing your startup and expanding it outside the borders of your country. It would be impractical to rely on paper documents and folders in such ventures. Additionally, this kind of system is beneficial for the environment since there is no waste of paper. This is also a practical decision from a financial point of view because, with a monthly fee, you eliminate the need to constantly purchase paper, folders, shelves, or any additional physical storage space.
HAVING A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Technology has been one of the main means of gaining a competitive advantage as well as growing your business. The sooner you implement new technologies and apps in your daily operations, the better it will be for your business. Naturally, you need to thoroughly research your options because introducing new apps and gadgets simply for the sake of bragging about it can result in financial losses if the mentioned technology wasn’t applicable or practical.
However, sometimes upgrading your tech isn’t a matter of gaining a competitive edge but of staying afloat in business. For instance, there is an ongoing upgrade of Australia’s current phone and internet infrastructure by the NBN Co Limited. This means that Australian businesses need to look into suitable NBN plans because their existing phone and internet services might not function when this upgrade is put into effect. It’s always better to choose the best option regarding monthly fees and internet speed in advance than to have to settle for any solution once you are out of time.
BEING ON THE SAME PAGE WITH CUSTOMERS
Implementing the latest software solutions and having a strong online presence has become imperative for businesses from the customers’ perspective. They want to be able to find your website through different devices and for it to load properly and quickly. If your website takes more than a few seconds to load, chances are that the visitor will leave long before it finally loads on their device.
Having an online presence can also be demanding in terms of time because your customers expect to engage with your brand via comments on your posts or private messages, and they don’t like to be kept waiting. For your team to have time to communicate with them, you need to leverage different software tools to help you schedule automatic email campaign launches, blog posts, etc. Meaning, new additions to your software can help you communicate more efficiently with your customers.
BOOSTING OVERALL PRODUCTIVITY
Just as with relieving your employees from repetitive manual tasks, you cannot expect them to perform their best if you do not provide them with adequate equipment. This includes their health, so you need to have ergonomic design on your mind when planning their work posts. All employees need to have an adequate amount of light to avoid straining their eyes because that can lead to headaches and problems with vision.
When it comes to their daily tasks, different technological solutions allow your employees to monitor their progress better, speed up certain processes, and help expand their knowledge. The sheer fact that their mental capacities are directed at something creative instead of being submerged into mundane day-to-day processes, will make your employees hungrier for success and therefore more productive.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It is clear that business success and growth nowadays depend on technology, however, this doesn’t mean that you should embrace everything that your competition uses or anything that appears on the market.
The final goal of new technology implementation is to deliver positive business outcomes and not push you into making hasty decisions that would cost you money. This is why, for the sake of your startup’s progress, you need to keep in touch with the latest technology and implement what you assess to be purposeful.
