Hello everyone,
I know that it has been quite some time but I have been busy – as all entrepreneurs are. I wanted to have a quick word about technology and the importance of technology to all ventures regardless of size. When I coach especially small business owners and micro- entrepreneurs they never contemplate how technology can be integrated into their ventures. I am doing more work in this space – technology entrepreneurship and leveraging technology in entrepreneurship, and so I wanted to share the top 3 reasons to leverage technology in your business no matter how small or large. Technology is the silent partner in your business.
- Technology can help you attract business – the world is now a very digital one, and until you build up enough of a cult following or your niche is so specialized that people seek you out, you will need to use technology to grab customers. How? Well of course we can all think of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat. The ones you employ will be determined by your target market and the nature of your product and service. However, there are other technology driven methods to attract customers such as newsletters and even mass SMS messages. Technology allows you to reach more people in more diverse places and spaces.
- Technology can help you improve operational efficiency – great you have customers and you are making some money! So how do you keep everything organized, keep track of expenses, revenues, invoices, etc – through technology of course. The shoe box method has died, instead you can use various productivity applications to minimize the time spent on routine tasks. There are many free applications for invoicing, accounting, scheduling, and any other “ing” you can think of. Check out my blog post on some finance productivity apps you can use here.
- Technology can help you retain customers – customers need engagement to continue doing business with you – there are a number of chat bots (automated customer service) and customer relationship management tools that allow you to maintain customer service engagement and help you to capture data that you can use to truly understand the behaviors of your customer and keep them hooked on your product or service. Check out customer service solutions like Grasshopper, and Hubspot.
Your goal – choose one area where you think technology can help you grow your business, ten identify a technology solution and see how it works! Good luck. Do share!