5 Ways to Boost Your Small Business With Simple Tech Updates
If you’re like most people, you use technology in your everyday life. Whether it’s a sleep app on your phone or a streaming service for your TV, the latest tech can make your life so much easier. For small businesses, however, the latest tech and software can make success more attainable. Knowing which tech can help your small business can be tricky, but you can start with these updates for better profits and improved operations.
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Invest in a Simple Online Marketplace
While retail purchases in-store are still holding strong, the majority of customers actually prefer to shop for goods and services online. That percentage is expected to increase as more millennials become consumers, so savvy small businesses would be wise to use online marketplaces to sell their products and connect with even more consumers. The Rakuten marketplace is one option that offers tailored support and simple sales processing, as well as easy-to-use features that make setting up your online marketplace really simple. There may be other marketplace options better suited to your needs, so do your homework before settling on the right one.
Put Together an Engaging Website
In today’s market, you can’t afford not to have a good website; otherwise, how will the world know about you and your business? And while there are plenty of free templates that can help you piece together a site over the span of an afternoon or weekend, it’s often difficult to know where you should begin. Fortunately, sites like Talk Element help you find the right template and design based on the type of business you’re running. That way, you can easily put together a site that demands attention.
Sell Products and Services via Social Media
If you’re using social media to connect with customers, you’re on the right track. For small businesses, social media marketing can bring a major influx of exposure, as well as paying customers. To take that profit-boosting potential even further, you should look into linking your products in social media posts, so that customers can instantly shop with your small business. If your business uses Instagram, new shopping features allow you to post products and links, so that shoppers never even need to leave Instagram to check out with their purchases. This small update will allow you to capitalize on impulse shoppers. While loyal customers can drive sales, impulse purchases tend to drive the overall success of retailers, which is another reason to encourage these sales.
Secure Customer Data Against Leaks and Threats
Online shops and social media links can certainly increase your profits. However, those profits can all be swept away, along with your business, by a single data breach. Instances of data breaches are increasing every single year, impacting both major corporations and small businesses alike. If your company experiences a breach, you could be losing as much as $148 for each record exposed. That may not seem like a lot, but when you multiply that figure by your total amount of customers (losing 1 million records can cost more than $40 million), you could be looking at closing up shop if your business is hit by a data breach. With the right tech moves, like encrypting emails and updating security software, you can prevent your business from being targeted and preserve your profits.
Enhance Internet Speeds for Enhanced Communications
A simple, yet effective, tech update that can help your small business succeed is to update your business network. That’s because working with slower internet can negatively impact your small business in several ways. While you’re waiting on a slow connection, you could be missing out on key operations, major sales and important communications that could ultimately affect your bottom line. You can invest in a network assessment to see if boosting your internet connection could boost your productivity and profits, then implement any needed updates. In addition to benefiting you and your business, fast and reliable internet can also benefit your customers. With most customers expecting free internet from small businesses, this is one basic tech improvement you definitely don’t want to skip.
If you’re looking to drive sales and streamline operations with the latest tech, you definitely shouldn’t limit yourself to the suggestions above. What you can do is use these tips as a starting point for upgrading your small business tech and taking those efforts further with your own research and planning. However you make tech work for your business, know that investing in the right updates can make a major difference in achieving your goals of success in the small business world.
Article By: Chelsea Lamb Photo Credit: Pexels