Your business might be doing well right now, but it’s important not to get complacent. If you want to continue turning a profit you need to keep up with the times, and as technology advances you have to transition with it. Here are some current digital trends that you need to get on board with or risk jeopardizing your entire venture.
The Cloud
The cloud is software and services that are run on the Internet instead of locally on your computer. This is a bit of a buzzword in business but it’s important, and is the start of big changes in the way things are run. Having Small Business Cloud Hosting Solutions or Managed Information Technology Services and working in the cloud means sharing data is easier, staff can hire employees to work remotely and can check that data is stored more securely. Huge programs like office 360 are being migrated to the cloud, and it won’t be long until all area of business are run in this way.
Business Software
Business software is becoming smarter all the time. While right now we still need human employees in our companies, software can mean we need less workers and the ones we have can be used to their best potential. This saves us time, money and make us more efficient. Business software can automate many areas of your company, help you to keep perfect records and generally make light work of tedious tasks. There are all kinds out there for many different areas of business so do some research. Work out what would be best for you and your company.
Contactless
Do you run the kind of business that takes money for services or products directly from customers? If so, you absolutely need contactless. Even more so if your business sells predominantly lower cost items or anything that could be considered as an impulse buy. We live in an age of instant gratification and contactless using a card or smartphone to pay suits consumers to a tee. Fewer and fewer people are carrying cash around with them, so a card machine plus contactless is something that your business needs if it’s going to move with the times.
An App
Research has shown that customers now make more purchases on smartphones and tablets than they do on used laptops and computers. This is something you simply cant afford to ignore as a business owner, people are not only comfortable shopping on their phones but actually prefer to do so. Make things easy for them, of course your website should be optimised for all devices but an app goes a step further. When a customer downloads your app onto their device it allows you to essentially climb into their pocket with your details, products or services only ever being a click away. An app makes you look reliable and trustworthy because in order to get onto the app store, you have to be verified- unlike websites which can be set up by anyone. Speak to an app designer have them bring your vision to life with a design that’s custom and beautiful.
