Money drives business, technology, and innovation. Your business should strive to make as much money as possible and spend the least amount of money as possible. Here are some tech solutions that can save your business money.
Make Better Use of Your Smartphone
Most people own and operate smartphones. Smartphones are a great way to communicate with others. They also put a wealth of information at your fingertips. Identify ways to use your smartphone to streamline processes. Everything from social media marketing to document scanning to cloud storage can revolve around a mobile phone. Mobile phones are even being used as point-of-sale systems.
If you are a small business owner, you may save money by using a POS mobile phone application to accept payments as opposed to installing something permanent. You are able to make money because you can conduct transactions wherever you are. You don't need your customers to visit your store because you can go to them.
Ditch the Landline
The landline telephone has been the staple of businesses for many years. Now, most people get emails, messages, and talk on their cell phone. Landlines have lost their importance as an office tool. They are being replaced with VoIP.
VoIP lets you make and receive phone calls over the Internet. You are already paying for fast Internet. If you just pay a few dollars more for hardware and software, you can reduce recurring bills and improve communication functionality.
Embrace Automation
Every second your organization wastes doing something manually equals money lost. Some tasks still need to be done manually. However, there are many tasks that can be automated. Automating where you can will save you money in the short term and in the long run. Some small businesses avoid automation because of the initial investment that is needed. However, when you compare that initial investment to the cost of paying for and insuring an employee to do the same job, the cost benefits are obvious to see.
You would be surprised at the list of things you can automate. This includes posting to social media, backing up your computer, and some proofreading. If you are not spending time on manual tasks, you have more time to grow your business.
Get Faster Internet
How many online pages do you visit each day? If you are like your average employee, it is over 100 pages a day. If you could increase your broadband connection so that it loads pages four seconds faster, you and each of your employees would save an average of 400 seconds per day. That doesn't sound like much. But think about that over the year and multiplied by the number of employees you have.
Faster Internet speeds mean that you are able to fix computer-related problems more quickly. For example, if your employees are getting errors on their computer because their operating system has an msvcr100.dll missing, you will not be able to find a fix or download it quickly.
Use Cloud-Based Services
Cloud services are a phenomenal way to save money. It is cheaper to store things in the cloud as opposed to purchasing, maintaining, and upgrading an in-house server. Moving data and apps to the cloud make it easier for employees to collaborate with peers. Cloud services allow you to access applications and other services on a subscription basis. You only pay for the technology that you need and use.
Take Cybersecurity Seriously
Cyber criminals take cybercrime seriously. Approach your security with the same level of intensity. Spammers and hackers can cost your company big dollars. Do not think that because you are a small business you will not be a victim. Cyber criminals love to target small businesses because small businesses lack the cybersecurity tools large organizations have in place.
All it takes is one cyber breach for your organization's reputation to be destroyed. When you calculate lawsuits, government fines, and lost revenue, a cyber breach can cost your organization millions of dollars.
Conclusion
There is so much technology available that it can seem overwhelming. Invest in technology slowly, and only invest in what you need. You want the technology you have to be working for your business as opposed to you working for your technology.