Tag: technology upgrades

4 Tips For Startup Businesses

Scott Asai1 Comment

Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

When you are setting up your own business, you are firing on all cylinders, probably getting very little sleep and have ideas coming out of your ears. There is so much that you know that you need to get done, from funding to premises to business plans. It is a frantic and busy time, a time you are never likely to forget. When it’s all in place and your business has finally launched, it can be difficult to know which areas are best to concentrate on next. Which is where we come in as today we share with you 4 tips for startup businesses.

Look after your team

Your business will rely on your team, so you need to prioritize looking after them.

To help your team to grow and enjoy working with you, they will need clear initial training and ongoing coaching and support. It should be open and friendly and any feedback should be constructive. This should enable everyone to feel confident and comfortable in the role that you are asking them to fulfill. 

Your team needs to feel invested in your business in order to give the best of themselves. To engender this, involve them in all aspects of your business and communicate with them regularly. Hold team meetings to share updates and encourage ideas from everyone. Book in one to ones with each member of your team to allow them time to talk through their work, their progress and any potential issues. Offer your support to help them to achieve goals or address any shortfalls in their performance. 

Most importantly, ensure that they feel appreciated and important to you. Get to know them, look out for opportunities to praise and thank them and reward appropriately when you see a job well done or want to celebrate your successes. 

Keep up with technology developments

It is worth always looking out for software, technology and packages that can make your business run more smoothly, such as investor crm software. These products will ensure that you can deliver a greater level of service to your customers, and usually with less effort on your part. They are specifically designed for a certain job, one that might currently be taking up the time of several members of staff as they use many different systems. Take the time to look around for products that can take some of the work out of your processes for you. 

If this is not your area of expertise, it will always be someone’s, so delegate the task to a team member or stay in touch with others in your industry to keep abreast of any developments. 

Develop your own marketing strategy

Marketing is key for every business, no matter your niche. What can vary widely here is the amount of time and money you choose to invest in it. 

You might choose to invest a lot of your own time here, rather than heavily invest financially, and there are plenty of ways to do this. Many businesses are able to build strong followings and customer sales through effectively utilizing social media, free to use in most cases. Others have strong email marketing campaigns or content marketing strategies. In these cases there is a significant time commitment required, but very little monetary outlay, so you will need to weigh up whether this works well for your business, or whether outsourcing to specialists will make more sense on balance.

Build strong relationships with your customers

Your initial customers are likely to be precious to you and rightly so, you will want to look after them and build strong relationships with them.

Anyone that experiences your business could potentially be talking about your business the next day with a friend, so these early interactions are absolutely key in developing your reputation. Word of mouth is a very powerful marketing tool, and these days that extends to people talking about your business online too. A great rating on trusted review websites can really boost your business, as can people talking positively about you on social media. 

Take the time to ensure that those initial customers receive the very best from you, encouraging them to return to you as repeat customers and share their experiences with others. Ask for their opinions on what you have delivered to them and make it clear to them how much their feedback is valued. Use any feedback to improve your service and shape your business going forwards and thank them for helping you in this way.

How Can The Right Tech Save A Failing Business?

Scott Asai1 Comment

Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

When you’re growing your business, you can throw everything within your financial remit at it to ensure the company flies, but this isn’t necessarily going to work. When your business begins to make its inevitable descent, either due to poor planning, insufficient action, or both, thoughts turn to how to save a failing business. Believe it or not, the one main component that could encourage your company to grow again is the tech. How can it do this?

It Saves Your Business Money

It’s a great way for you to streamline certain processes. When you’re looking to cut corners, but without compromising the integrity of the company, technology is a godsend in this respect. Going digital can reduce the amount of paper you use of course, but it can reduce your equipment needs, and if you have the means necessary, you can encourage your workers to stay at home and work remotely, therefore minimizing your need or a physical office.

It Protects You

These days, data breaches are more common regardless of how big or small the company is. If you are insufficiently prepared for a data breach, you could lose so much information, not to mention trust from your customers. It’s vital you have an appropriate infrastructure plan in place, and Ntiva’s strategic IT consulting services is one of many that can help you re-evaluate your framework. We have to ensure that our company’s needs are met, and it’s not just in relation to the technology we have, but also in making sure that our staff know the best practices so that the technology is put to good use.

It helps automation

From social media to Customer Relationship Management systems, automation is one of the best approaches any company can take advantage of. Automating a handful of processes can save you time and money. This leaves your staff open to working on other areas of the company. If you are struggling to keep yourself going, automating so many processes that work out, financially speaking, as the equivalent of one member of staff means you can save quite a significant amount of money. Automation is a process that can make life easier for businesses, but not so the workers become complacent. Automation is one of those things that can encourage your workers to perform better in other areas so they don’t make themselves expendable. As this is a very handy by-product of implementing automation; if your workers perform better, you will directly see this in the results.

The right technology can save a failing business, but it can sufficiently protect it as well. As any company will attest, the right piece of tech is a godsend. And when your business struggles to keep itself going, technology might not be the first thing you would turn to, but as technology can fulfill so many different roles, you need to give it the attention it deserves. Technology is fast becoming the most essential business component, but even the smallest system can turn a business around in a short space of time.

Your Business Needs To Understand Its Technology Better!

Scott Asai2 Comments

Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

There’s no denying that we live in a world almost entirely dominated by technology. The truth is that technology has changed almost every aspect of society. It’s changed the way we shop, the way we consume media and even the way that we communicate with one another. Of course, if there’s one part of society that technology has changed more than just about any other, it’s almost certainly the world of business. The truth is that the business world looks almost entirely different from the way that it did even a decade or so ago. If your business doesn’t embrace technology in a fundamental way then it’s almost certainly going to end up falling behind the competition and being left in the dust. However, that’s not the end of it. If you assume that just having technology as a part of your business is going to guarantee your success then you’re sorely mistaken. The truth is that you need to be able to understand your business’s technology and know how to use it as effectively as possible. Otherwise, it’s just going to end up being a drain on time, money, and resources. Luckily, there are ways to avoid letting that happen. With that in mind, here are some ways to better understand the technology in your business.

Employee training

If there’s one mistake that a lot of business owners make over and over when it comes to bringing in new technology, it’s that they forget that technology is merely a tool and that without human beings, it’s basically useless. If you’re going to make the most of the technology in your business then you need to make sure that all of your employees know how it works and how to make the most of it as well. This means you need to provide them with adequate amounts of training. Sure, that might take time and money but it’s nothing compared to the time and money you could end up wasting if things are going wrong because your employees have no idea how any of the technology in your business actually works.

Outside assistance

Of course, when it comes to dealing with the technology in your business, you’re not necessarily going to be the perfect person for that job. After all, as amazing a business owner as you might be, you’re not necessarily going to be a tech wizard. Because of that, you might want to consider outsourcing elements of the technology in your business to other companies. A company light Throttlenet IT Solutions can offer you the kind of help and support in terms of your IT infrastructure that can make your life a whole lot easier. The same goes for things like using the internet in your marketing. Working with a dedicated web marketing team is going to allow you to take advantage of an entirely different marketplace than your business may have previously explored.

Communication technology

It’s important to look past the obvious when it comes to technology in business. Take your attention away from complex programs and complicated machines. Focus on improving key areas using practical technology.

Now, more than ever, we’re appreciating the benefits of communication technology. Implementing a comprehensive communication system gives you a far better service than traditional methods and is generally more cost-effective. 

Your unrestricted communication channels allow you to easily set-up conferences with people around the world. It’s easy to install, configure, and maintain. What’s more, VoIP communication technology is very reliable. 

Modern integrated technologies are undoubtedly the way forward when it comes to communication in business.

There are several great options in terms of providers. Although there are major global companies involved in this industry, they are not necessarily the best choice for your business. If you’re hoping to stay away from the typical industry players, consider using alternatives to Google voice. These services can be just as effective and are often better value for the premium versions.

The needs of your business

There’s no denying that technology is pretty much essential for the health and well-being of any business. But that doesn’t mean that all businesses are going to have the same technological requirements. The truth is that every business is unique and that means that it’s going to have unique needs. Think carefully about what those needs are and how you’re going to be able to solve the problems in your business with technology. If your business is based on the web then you’re not going to need huge amounts of manufacturing tech, but if you’re running a warehouse then you’re probably not going to need lots of complex coding software on your computers. Think about the needs of your business and do whatever you can to lean into them whenever possible. Otherwise, you’re going to end up wasting money and resources on tech that you simply don’t need and that will only lead your business to feel bloated.

The changing times

One of the hardest things about trying to keep your business competitive in the modern world is the fact that the world is constantly moving at an incredibly fast pace. In fact, every year things seem to be moving faster and faster because they are. New developments in the world of tech are appearing all the time and if you’re not able to keep up then the only possible result is that you get left behind. Because of that, you need to make sure that you’re keeping up with as many new developments in the world of business tech as possible to keep your business on the cutting edge. Make sure that you subscribe to tech magazines and that you browse tech blogs as frequently as possible. The last thing you want is to find out about a perfect technological advancement that can help your business by seeing your competition using it in order to pull ahead of you.

Your demographics

Of course, no matter how important technology is to the world around us, that doesn’t mean that it’s going to be just as important to everyone. The truth is that different groups of people respond to technology in different ways. The Millennial generation treats technology as an indispensable part of their everyday life. They are glued to their phones and do pretty much everything through technology. Because of that, you’re going to want everything from your marketing strategies to your customer service to be heavily text focused. Things like social media and online help desks are going to resonate incredibly strongly with this demographic. However, older generations who are somewhat suspicious of technology are going to prefer a more old-school approach. Things like traditional marketing techniques and telephone customer service lines are going to be vastly preferred by an older demographic.

The size of your business

Another thing that you need to take into account when it comes to bringing technology into your business is the size and scope of your business as a whole. After all, if you’re bringing in software and technology that’s designed to help a small startup when you’re several levels ahead of that stage, then it’s not really going to do you that much good. By the same token, a small, new business is not going to benefit from much of the technology designed to improve the workflow of huge companies. Make sure that you keep your business’s size in mind when considering what its technical needs are.

Your budget

You also need to carefully consider the kind of budget that you’re working with. You might have some technology in mind that you consider to be totally essential for your business, but if you can’t afford it, then it’s best to put it out of your mind until you can. If you try and bring technology into your business with the hope that the improvements it makes to your business will result in enough revenue to pay for it, you’re putting yourself in a seriously dangerous position. If it doesn’t end up paying for itself, you could end up putting your business in serious debt, which is the kind of thing that can snowball incredibly quickly.

Now, you might be of the opinion that your business doesn’t need technology. This is particularly common in older businesses. And that makes sense to a certain degree. After all, if your business has survived for this long without the need for technology, why would it need to change now? However, it’s important to really understand just how different the world is to the world of a few short years ago. You don’t need to totally change your business to fit the modern, tech-dominated world. Instead, think about how technology and modern advances can help you improve upon the foundation that you have already laid in your business up until now.