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One of the biggest hurdles that small business owners have trouble overcoming is an effective use of technology. Far too many people believe that technology is an absolute must-have for their business, but fail to understand what it actually does for them. For example, you might know about industry-standard software and automation tools that help you run your business, but what tangible value does it actually have? What does it improve in your business and is that investment worth it?
In this post, we’re going to take a look at some ways to optimize the way you use technology. The purpose of this post will be to help you take a more objective look at the way you run your business and how you make use of different technologies so that you can avoid wasting money in the near future. What Is The Purpose Of Your Technology? Before you invest in something like a monthly cloud software subscription or a new computer, ask yourself what the purpose of that technology is. For instance, the purpose of online ordering software for restaurants should be to speed up transactions, make things easier for your staff, to keep better track of your finances. These are some extremely helpful tools, but what are the tangible benefits here? For starters, it speeds up transactions because you no longer have to manually process them. Automatic payment processing methods are far more accurate and faster than humans, meaning you can quickly get your customers in and out of the door with fewer errors and billing mistakes. Similarly, “making things easier for your staff” generally means lowering the amount of knowledge they need to perform their job well, meaning there will be fewer mistakes and less effort spent by your staff. Lastly, keeping track of your finances comes with the data-oriented systems that are used by cloud software companies and other similar software developers. Every transaction in this example restaurant will be recorded, meaning you can keep an eye on your stock, forecasts, profits, and so on. In short, technology can be really useful for improving a restaurant, and these were just a few examples of what they can help with. This is how you should be approaching technology for your business. When Does Technology Hinder Your Growth? Now let’s talk about areas where technology can actually hinder your growth. One of the prime examples of this is when the technology is convoluted and difficult to learn. For example, you might adopt a brand-new order processing system for your small business because you want to speed up orders. However, the system might be designed for a large-scale business, so there are lots of tools and complicated features that you don’t quite understand. This could lead to staff taking longer to adapt to the new system, resulting in delays and errors for several days, weeks, or even months. As such, you should always be mindful of when technology is actually hindering your progress instead of encouraging it.
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The business model of the past 100 years has been disrupted by digital technology. Gone are the days when a business could succeed through print advertising, radio commercials, or even a strong TV presence. The modern consumer is now reached through digital channels such as search engines, social media platforms, and online review sites.
In order to stay ahead of the curve, businesses need to adopt a digital-first approach and focus on creating a seamless customer experience across all channels. This means having a strong online presence, implementing data-driven marketing strategies, and using automation to streamline operations. If you're looking to bring your business into the modern age, there are a number of ways you can do so. By utilising technology, staying up-to-date on trends, and thinking outside the box, you can ensure that your business is ahead of the curve. 12 Ways To Bring Your Business Into The Modern Age Utilise Technology One of the best ways to bring your business into the modern age is to utilise technology. There are a number of ways you can do this, from using social media to connect with customers to using data analytics to make informed decisions. By taking advantage of the many technological tools available, you can give your business a competitive edge. This includes getting a company to build you an app and other digital platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter to interact with your audience. Stay Up-To-Date on Trends Another way to ensure that your business is modern is to stay up-to-date on trends. This can be anything from the latest technology trends to changes in customer behaviour. By being aware of what's happening in the world around you, you can make sure that your business is always ahead of the curve. The world is permanently connected and trends come and go at lightning speeds, so it’s important to be on top of them as much as possible. Think Outside the Box One of the best ways to bring your business into the modern age is to think outside the box. This means thinking creatively about how you can improve your business model and operations. It also means being willing to take risks and experiment with new ideas. By thinking outside the box, you can ensure that your business is always moving forward. Be Flexible In today's business world, it's important to be flexible. This means being willing to change your plans and operations as needed in order to adapt to the ever-changing landscape. By being flexible, you can make sure that your business is always able to meet the needs of your customers . Be Customer-Focused In the modern age, businesses need to be customer-focused. This means understanding what your customers want and need and then delivering it to them. It also means being responsive to their feedback and making changes as needed. By putting your customers first, you can ensure that your business is always meeting their needs. Use Data Analytics One of the most important tools for businesses in the modern age is data analytics. This allows you to track customer behaviour, understand what they're looking for, and make informed decisions about your marketing and product development. By using data analytics, you can ensure that your business is always moving in the right direction. 
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Innovate
In today's business world, it's important to innovate. This means coming up with new ideas and solutions that solve problems for your customers. It also means being willing to take risks and experiment with new concepts. By innovating, you can ensure that your business is always ahead of the competition. Think Bigger In the modern age, businesses need to think big. This means having ambitious goals and plans for your business. It also means being willing to take risks and invest in new ideas. The possibility to scale globally is now more attainable than ever before, so don’t be afraid to dream big. By thinking big, you can ensure that your business is always moving forward. Utilise Social Media In the modern age, social media is a powerful tool that businesses can use to connect with customers and promote their brands. By utilising social media, you can reach a wider audience and build relationships with customers. You can also use social media to gather feedback and learn about what your customers want. This includes using the services of social media influencers, which will help you to further reach your target market. 10. CollaborateIn order to be successful in the modern age, businesses need to collaborate. This means working with other businesses, customers, and partners to create new products, services, and solutions. By collaborating, you can ensure that your business is always moving forward. 
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Outsource
In the modern age, businesses need to be able to outsource. This means working with other businesses or individuals to get work done that you don't have the time or resources to do yourself. Typical tasks you can outsource include social media, content marketing, customer service, and accounting. By outsourcing, you can ensure that your business is always moving forward and you can focus on your core business and leave the rest to someone else. Be Resilient In today's business world, it's important to be resilient. This means being able to bounce back from setbacks and continue moving forward. It also means being able to adapt to change and overcome challenges. By being resilient, you can ensure that your business is always moving forward. In the words of Steve Jobs, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” In Closing In order to be successful in the modern age, businesses need to be willing to change and adapt. They need to think outside the box, be flexible, and use data analytics. They also need to innovate, be agile, and outsource. Finally, they need to be resilient. By following these tips, you can ensure that your business is always moving forward.  Image credit: Ronald Candonga from Pexels When it comes to building a high-performing company, there are certain priorities that must be kept in mind. If you want to make sure your business is successful, you need to focus on the following four areas: culture, talent, process, and technology. This blog post will take a closer look at each one of these priorities and see why they are so important for creating a top-notch organisation.
Culture Strong company culture is essential for attracting and retaining the best talent. It’s also vital for fostering a sense of camaraderie and collaboration among employees. If you want your business to be successful, you need to create a positive and supportive work environment. This can be done by ensuring that your company values are clear and that everyone understands what is expected of them. You should also provide opportunities for employees to bond with one another outside of work. For example, you can hold regular team-building activities or social events. Creating a strong company culture will take time and effort, but it’s worth it if you want to build a high-performing organisation. Talent Of course, no company can be successful without the right talent. That’s why it’s so important to focus on attracting and retaining the best employees. When you’re hiring, look for individuals who have the skills and experience that you need. But also make sure that they fit in with your company culture. It’s important to find people who will be an excellent cultural fit because they will be more likely to stay with your company for the long haul. Once you have the right talent on board, you need to do everything you can to keep them happy and engaged. This means offering competitive compensation and benefits, as well as providing opportunities for career growth. You should also make sure that your employees feel like they are part of a team and that their individual contributions are valued. If you can keep your talent happy and engaged, you’ll be well on your way to building a high-performing company. Process Having a well-defined process is crucial for any business. But it’s especially important if you want to build a high-performing organisation. That’s because a strong process ensures that everyone is on the same page and that tasks are completed efficiently. When you’re creating your process, make sure to involve all of the relevant stakeholders. This will help ensure buy-in from everyone involved. You should also document your process so that it can be followed by everyone in your company. And finally, don’t forget to review and update your process regularly to make sure it’s still effective. Having a well-defined process is an essential part of building a high-performing company. Technology In today’s business world, technology is more important than ever. That’s why it’s essential to make sure you have the right tools and systems in place. The goal is to find a balance between using too much technology, which can be overwhelming, and not enough, which can hold you back. Cybersecurity is also a major concern when it comes to technology. It would be best to make sure you have the proper measures as well as a cyber essential certificate in place to protect your data and systems from being hacked. In conclusion, these are the top four priorities for building a high-performing company. In addition, if you want your business to be successful, you need to focus on culture, talent, process, and technology. Keep these areas in mind, and you’ll be well on your way to building a top-notch organisation.  Image credit: Pexels from Pixabay People don’t like change, regardless of how positive it might be for them. That couldn’t be seen more clearly than in the workplace. Employees want to turn up and do their jobs without needing to adapt. That makes implementing new technology in your finance company relatively difficult.
It doesn’t need to be nearly as complicated as you could seem, however. Once you know how to implement technology in a finance company, it seems much more straightforward. With a few particular steps, you shouldn’t have a problem seeing the various benefits that fintech offers your firm. Benefits of technology in Finance Speaking of benefits, you could wonder what these are. There are more than a few, many of which you mightn’t have thought of, making upgrading or adding technology more than attractive. Some of the most notable of these include:
With the various benefits that technology offers finance, implementing into your financial firm may seem attractive. It’s easy to see why. With the potential problems that could come up, figuring out how to implement technology in a finance company can seem difficult. Far from it. With a few particular steps, it’ll be easier than you think. How to implement technology in a Finance company: 5 steps to take 1. Have an oversight team Someone will need to oversee the implementation of any new technology. They’ll be responsible for planning out the entire process while making sure it goes smoothly. Putting together a team specifically for this is recommended, as it spreads the workload across several people. With this approach, everything should go much smoother than you’d think, provided there’s consistent communication throughout. You could find that you don’t have an appropriate team to put together for this, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of options. Instead, you could hire an outside consultancy, such as Liberty IT Consulting Group, for this. By doing so, you can take advantage of expertise and rest assured that the process goes as smoothly as possible. Though that involves an extra cost, the benefits will be worth it, especially in the long term. 2. Focus on what solves problems With the potential benefits that technology offers financial firms, it’s tempting to get them so you can take advantage of these benefits. You shouldn’t dive straight in, however, as not all technology will be as beneficial to your company as others. Some will come much better recommended than others. Focusing on any problems or issues your company has should be a priority. Where can your finance business get better? What, specifically, can be improved, and is there a technological solution that can address it? Answering these questions can better help you figure out which technology to use. Once you do, you’ll see much greater benefits with your business. The impact of the software will be more obvious, especially long term. While that means spending time comparing options, the return on investment will be better worth it. 3. Work out the kinks Once you’ve identified the technology you want to implement in your firm, you could be tempted to deploy it as quickly as possible. That mightn’t be an effective strategy. Instead, it could be better worth having a trial run with a limited number of employees to make sure it’s as effective for your business as you want. Consider this a way to test the feasibility of the technology for your business. When you’re doing so, you can figure out how beneficial it will be. You can then use this to convince any potential nay-sayers that the technology is worth the cost of implementing it. At the same time, you’ll end up figuring out if there are any kinks that need to be worked out before it’s deployed company-wide. Taking this approach makes sure there will be as few issues as possible once you’ve launched everything. You can also use this to get feedback from your testers and find out what possible concerns employees may have, while letting you proactively address them. With a trial run, you can make sure the full deployment goes as smoothly as possible. 4. Upskill your staff With any new tool you add to your company, you’ll need to make sure your employees can use it. While some of yours might already know how to do so, many of them mightn’t, so you’ll need to train them. You’ll need to go about this the right way to ensure everyone knows what they’re doing. You’re not likely to see all of the benefits of the technology otherwise. You should aim for these training sessions to be as engaging as possible. When you’re planning this out, keep a few things in mind, namely:
Once you’ve fully trained your staff in the technology, you can rest assured they can hit the ground running once it’s been deployed. You’ll have much fewer delays and problems to deal with once it’s been launched. 5. Launch your tech Now that all of the above have been taken care of, it’s time to launch your tech. That doesn’t mean you’re done now that you’ve deployed it in your company. Despite how much testing you may have done beforehand, it’s possible that things can still go wrong. You’ll need to make sure everything’s going as expected. That means monitoring your business as the technology is deployed and making sure it’s having the effect you thought it would. It’s possible that things could be slightly different from what you intended. If problems do come up - even minor ones - you’ll need to take care of them as early as possible. Making them a priority from the start and learning from them will make sure you don’t make the same mistake again in the future. As overwhelming as this may seem, the problems that do come up should be relatively minor and be easy to tackle, especially if you’ve planned everything out effectively. Technologies driving the Finance industry Technology is a broad area, even when it relates specifically to tools that can be used in a financial firm. More than a few types of tools are used across the finance industry, with each of these offering more than a few pros and cons. It can be more than worth implementing each of them, as they’ll offer practical implications for your company. Some of the more notable technologies driving the finance industry include:
Combined with each of the above benefits, there’s no reason not to consider implementing technology in your finance firm. The various types of technology you can use offer their own pros and cons. While they could take some time and effort to implement into your company, it’ll be more than worth the effort. How to implement technology in a Finance company: Wrapping up If you don’t know how to implement technology in a finance company, you could think the process would be overwhelming. That doesn’t need to be the case, as it’s much easier than you’d expect, especially with the above steps. With the potential benefits on offer, there shouldn’t be anything getting in your way.  Image credit: Geralt from Pixabay Increasing efficiency can save businesses time and money. If you own a company, and you’re looking to maximise profits and free up time for your team, here are some top tips to make your business more efficient. Technology and automation One of the most effective ways to supercharge efficiency in the world of business is to invest in technology and capitalise on the benefits of innovations, such as automation. Technology simplifies tasks, it can speed up processes and it can eliminate the need for employees to devote time to repetitive and menial tasks. As a business owner, it’s hugely beneficial to explore possibilities in terms of equipment, machinery and software that could drive your company forward and help you increase efficiency and productivity. Examples such as a food labelling system for food and drinks manufacturers and automation tools for data entry highlight the advantages of investing in modern tech. Analyse the technology you utilise now, monitor your competitors and look into opportunities to upgrade or modernise equipment, hardware, software or machinery. Outsourcing Businesses are multi-faceted and they are required to carry out a diverse range of functions to achieve objectives. For small and medium-sized businesses, it’s often not possible to hire employees with all the skills required to cross every box. Outsourcing is a cost-effective solution, which enables businesses to access skills they don’t have on their core team without recruiting additional members of staff. Working with external agencies and businesses, companies can benefit from services that optimise performance and free up time for the team to focus on priority tasks. Take the example of a medical practice. Outsourcing IT support and professional cleaning will eliminate the need for staff to take on cleaning duties, improve hygiene, reduce the risk of cybercrime and security breaches and enhance the performance of IT systems. Outlining clear objectives Confusion and a lack of clarity can contribute to delays, mistakes and setbacks. As a business owner, it is crucial to ensure that you have clear objectives and that you and your team leaders issue clear instructions. Every employee should understand their roles and responsibilities. Encourage communication, keep in touch, facilitate collaborative work and create a culture that makes people feel comfortable and confident enough to ask questions if they have concerns. Auditing and monitoring Many entrepreneurs may think that their businesses are efficient, but closer analysis may prove otherwise. Auditing and continual monitoring can flag up issues and highlight processes that may be long-winded or unnecessary. Analyse data and look for ways to streamline operations and save time. Seeking advice from external consultants can be beneficial.  Image credit: Fauxels from Pexels Boosting efficiency in business can have a dramatic impact on productivity and profit margins. If you feel like your company hasn’t reached its full potential and there is room for improvement, take these tips on board. Invest in technology, make use of automation, consider outsourcing and issue clear instructions. Carry out regular audits and monitor performance continuously to flag up issues and identity solutions to streamline the way you work.
 Image credit: Negative Spaces from Pexels Are you considering launching a business with high earning potential? If this is the case, then you should give thought to starting a tech business. Despite the hardship posed by covid-19 on personal finances, businesses, and the economy, the UK tech industry led pandemic recovery raising over $15 billion in investments. Business experts have projected an exciting time for tech business as investors are shifting to investing in scaleups and start-ups; Google MD Ronan Harris indicated that the tech giants are looking to being part of the ecosystem in 2021. Are you wondering how you can join the trend? Check out these top tech business ideas you can start. 1. Web designing Website designing is a tech business idea that will never become unpopular. Websites have become an essential business need to build a professional, trustworthy and strong brand image. According to statistics, approximately 84% of UK shared businesses had a website in 2018. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the country has recorded a boom in website demand as companies turn to e-commerce and digitalisation. Website design includes several services such as UX design, graphic design, and SEO, and will remain a lucrative business idea worth considering even post-pandemic. 2. IT support Are you aware that several small businesses don’t have the funds to engage full-time, internal IT support staff? With many small business owners employing cost-saving measures like outsourcing, starting an IT support firm is a potentially high-earning venture worth starting. From providing cloud infrastructure systems to setting up and maintaining networks and implementing data backup and recovery, there are so many in-demand tech services you can offer businesses. Based on your customers’ demands, you may offer other services like security systems and mobile app development and management. 3. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Consultancy Google remains a fundamental piece of marketing strategies for several businesses. With the UK recording €222 billion in online sales in 2020 alone, companies will invest in digitalisation and SEO to show up as the top outcome in the right search for keywords identified with their business. This implies they will require SEO experts to help them achieve their objective. While some companies will recruit full-time staff to take up such specialised roles, others will engage an SEO agency to implement the required strategies to stay ahead of the competition. You can launch a business to offer such services to other firms.  Image credit: Geralt from Pixabay 4. Computer training services
Are you good with computers, software, and other tech gadgets? If that is the case, then it's a great fit to start a business to offer computer training to individuals and companies, as many people struggle when dealing with anything related to computers. There are a ton of alternatives for getting started with computer training services. You can either train people on how to use Windows, Macintosh, or both operating systems. More so, you can train individuals on the best way to utilise specialised applications. You may decide to offer training on individual bases, groups, or take to online lessons, which is more useful amid the pandemic. |
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