How You Can Use Technology To Grow Your Small Business 2023
Owning and successfully running a small business can be difficult at the best of times, but in a rapidly changing world it can be even more challenging. With technology constantly progressing at an unprecedented rate, businesses need to constantly be aware of how they can use technology to keep up with both the competition and the consumers. Of course, many businesses are aware of the modern physical technology required for their industry to succeed, but many business owners fall down on the digital front.
A few years ago, simply having a Facebook page and a website was all the digital consideration most businesses needed to make. But, following the COVID-19 pandemic, the remote working boom and the huge rise in ecommerce, business owners need to fully embrace digital technology to stay ahead of the curve. So what can the average business owner do to embrace digital technology? And what impact will that technology have on the business? In this article we’ll show you that you don’t need to be a tech genius to grow your business with modern technology.
How Technology helps businesses growth
So, what are the biggest technology trends small business owners should be keeping their eyes on in 2023?
What technology trends can we expect to see in small businesses in 2023?
Cybersecurity
As the digital world becomes more and more prominent in our daily working lives, never has cybersecurity been more important. Defending against targeted hacks and data breaches should be one of the foremost concerns of small businesses, as a cyber attack could have very serious repercussions.
With more and more sophisticated hackers out there, and tight data protection regulations such as GDPR in place, protecting your customers’ data is essential. If your cybersecurity is lacking, not only could you be found to be in breach of these regulations, but a data breach could lead to a lack of trust in existing customers, and negatively impact your attempts to bring new clients on board.
Hybrid working apps
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated an already growing trend towards hybrid working. With thousands of employees now spending their working hours between their home and office, staying connected through novel technologies is only going to become more important. While the likes of Zoom saw shares skyrocket, there are plenty of opportunities for your business to utilise a range of hybrid working apps.
Cloud-based technology will almost certainly be a major trend for small businesses to look out for and adopt in 2022. From sharing work across cloud drives, to planning schedules and workflows with cloud-based platforms, this technology allows businesses to transition into the hybrid space without taking a hit to productivity.
Freelancing technology
The so-called gig economy is another trend that will only grow in 2022, with more and more workers seeking work on their own terms. Utilising technologies that allow your business to connect quickly with freelancers and on-demand workers is a surefire way to ensure that your business has access to a broad workforce when you need it, without breaking the bank.
Automation & AI
AI-based automation technology may sound futuristic, but it is at the core of the success of many small businesses today. Today, business automations are all-encompassing covering a great range of features essential to the running of a small business.
From marketing outreach to internal stock taking to assessing and approving potential customers and clients, there are a huge number of ways small businesses can use automations to grow and scale. Many modern automation platforms are incredibly easy to use, seamlessly blending into the existing digital workings of the business.
Using automations to grow and scale your business
Automations will undoubtedly be one of the biggest small business trends of 2023, primarily due to how quickly they can help businesses grow and scale. But why are automations so effective at helping small businesses to grow?
As mentioned above, some automation platforms today can seamlessly integrate into existing business processes. This means that, with little effort, these platforms can automate everything from the most benign to most complex processes – saving business owners time and money, while producing instant, accurate results with no drop in quality.
Our own LendTech platform is an example of one of these easy-to-use tools. We connect your business processes to the platform, which then gives small business owners the ability to check bank statements, credit scores, Companies House records and more in seconds. If you’re a small business offering financial services, the LendTech platform is the perfect automation tool for your business.
The primary factors for the success of automations in helping small businesses to grow and scale is their time-saving and cost-cutting capabilities. Employing automation technology effectively in your business can cut the time of many tasks down to mere seconds. Meanwhile, you’ll be able to position your team more efficiently, ensuring man hours aren’t wasted on less profitable tasks by automating them.
For more information on how to automate your small business, get in touch with our team of digital automation experts today by clicking the button below.
