We all use technology. But are you using it wisely when it comes to your small business?
Mobile tech is everywhere.
An amazing 80 percent of business owners use a mobile device at least once each day, for scheduling, communication, task management, social media monitoring and even banking. However, 31 percent of business owners don’t have a mobile friendly website, according to a 2015 survey by software firm Clutch.
Business owners see customer relationship management (CRM) as a priority.
But only 29 percent use a CRM system to keep track of customers. Wasp Barcode’s 2015 State of Small Business report found that among that minority group using CRM systems, the group was highly fragmented across available platforms. With so many options on the market, choosing the best CRM solution can be a confusing process for any small business owner.
Small businesses are in the cloud
More than half of business owners use cloud-based storage, and 92 percent use at least one cloud-based solution. Owners cite cloud solutions’ cost effectiveness, flexibility, ease of use and increased agility as major benefits. But if your team isn’t aligned in the cloud-based tools, your efforts could become siloed and ineffective.
“Take a step back and inventory who is using what and why,” SMB Group advises. “Then look ahead to develop a more proactive and strategic cloud strategy that aligns with business goals, applications and workloads, IT resources and budgets, as well as your requirements in areas such as compliance, security and performance.”
Reliance on cloud-based tools for business means increased risk of cybercrime.
60 percent of cybercrimes are directed at small businesses, in part because small business are far less likely to have encryption for network security, mobile security, email security or online data protection. “Small businesses that have not made network security a priority should take the leap to protect both their company and customers,” entrepreneur John Rampton explained. “Don’t wait for something unfortunate to happen before taking action since it takes much longer to win back trust after you’ve lost it.”
How is your small business using technology in 2016?
