All businesses need new technology to thrive in a competitive marketplace.
Still, with advancements every year, it can be hard to keep up with everything you need to stay ahead of the competition and keep your employees happy and productive.
Companies willing to invest in technology can increase efficiency and improve decision-making, while those unwilling to invest will fall behind.
Wondering what new tech can improve your business? Keep reading. Here are a few of the best new technologies to improve your business.
Card reader apps
If you don’t need a full cash register, you can use a credit card reader app that prevents the need for invoicing or accepting cash only at your business.
Instead, you can swipe cards and send digital receipts to customers. It also helps you track inventory and gives you access to sales history. Card reader apps can simplify things for small businesses without investing in a full-scale POS system.
Finance and accounting apps and software
There’s no longer any reason to hire financial companies to manage your finances.
Finance and accounting software allows you to take all your financial management processes in-house.
While you should still work with a financial consultant and CPA, especially during tax time, you can manage your own finances and bookkeep in-house with professional financial software that allows you to track income and expenses while giving you insight into taxes, payroll, and more.
The more robust the system, the more it can do, potentially integrating with HR software to handle employee payroll and taxes.
With this software, you can easily file your taxes online and make automatic deductions to help you save on your taxes every quarter and year.
It also makes it easy to manage all aspects of your company finances, providing you with easy-to-understand insights into your financial health.
Communication apps
Whether or not you have remote teams, everyone within your organization should be able to communicate seamlessly with one another.
Communication software allows you to contact staff and different teams quickly without getting up from your desk.
It also allows you to search for posts to help you organize communication without asking for team updates. With communication applications, you can create different channels or groups to help organize communications across departments and various teams.
Check out these nine tips to better manage your remote team and keep communication up.
Cloud computing
The cloud allows you to centralize all important business data and documents into one easily accessible area.
With cloud computing, you can access documents from laptops, tablets, and smartphones anywhere around the world and at any time, so individuals don’t have to be at the office to complete their work.
Cloud computing also makes it easy to store important documents without printing them out and storing them in the office while helping companies improve internal communications and collaboration.
Customer relationship management systems
CRM systems allow you to effectively manage customer relationships and communication, helping you generate and convert leads to increase profits.
A CRM tool allows you to organize your leads to promote growth and enhance conversions while decreasing total costs.
With CRMs, you’ll have access to important sales and marketing analytics reporting dashboards to help you make better business decisions based on real customer data and information.
Learn more about how DailyStory can support your sales funnel for all your leads.
Cybersecurity
Every business must protect its customer data. However, businesses also have their own information they don’t want to share with the competition. Securing your data goes beyond keeping documents locked away in the office.
Instead, most businesses have some data stored in the cloud that they must protect at all costs, especially when it comes to customer credit card information and personal data.
Cybersecurity solutions protect your customers and your business, ensuring sensitive information is protected. Unfortunately, hackers get smarter every year and find new ways to break into your systems, so you’ll need a cybersecurity solution that’s able to detect threats before they steal data.
Working with an IT company is the best solution for most companies who don’t know how to protect their own data. Many of these companies are experts in cloud storage and can help you keep all data used in digital tools safe from threats.
Check out this 12-step website security checklist for beginners.
Project management software
If you have difficulty tracking your tasks, your staff likely does, too. Without proper processes and tools in place, you won’t be able to effectively track and complete tasks that are part of larger projects.
Keeping track of deliverables and deadlines is key to the success of your business, but sticky notes and personal notepads aren’t effective for tracking everything within your organization.
Instead, use project management software that tracks all aspects of projects and deliverables to ensure work is getting done timely, even if staff is working outside the office.
Project management tools vary, but you can find the right one for you by making a list of priorities and talking to each project management company to determine what’s best for you and your teams.
Check out these 15-plus free productivity tools that you should know about.
Inventory management systems
Businesses with products must effectively manage their inventory to ensure they’re not losing expensive product components.
Inventory management also ensures your customers aren’t purchasing products that are out of stock. Inventory management should be every business’ main concern if they sell products because you must ensure you have enough inventory to meet customer demand. You also don’t want to overstock and keep your cash flow tied up in inventory.
Inventory management software helps you track inventory, allowing you to set up alerts when your inventory is low so you know exactly when to make a purchase based on business needs. It can also facilitate customer service by making it easier to track products, avoiding the potential of angry customers when they purchase products that aren’t available.
Small business technologies
Small business owners must wear many hats, including tracking projects and forming beneficial partnerships that help the business grow. You could lose valuable customers and profits if you’re not effectively utilizing technology in your business.
Finding the right technology for your needs means prioritizing your needs and researching the different providers to ensure you’re only investing in the technology you need.
About the author
Ashley Nielsen earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration Marketing at Point Loma Nazarene University. She is a freelance writer who loves to share knowledge about general business, marketing, lifestyle, wellness, and financial tips. During her free time, she enjoys being outside, staying active, reading a book, or diving deep into her favorite music.
