It’s 2021 and whilst we may not be commuting in flying cars and hover boards as Back to the Future writer Bob Gale imagined in 1989 we do have a range of impressive technological tools at our disposal.
In terms of business, there are a whole host of tools that can be used to reduce manual labour processes and as a result, maximise profits. If you’re a business owner and you want to cut down the time you spend on admin and non-profit making activities, read on to find out 4 easy things you can do to streamline your business.
Modernize your accounting
One of the most annoying things about running a small to medium business is sorting out your end of year accounts and making sure you’re good with the IRS and your employees. If you find your business accounting a nightmare, you need to invest in some form of accounting software.
There are a whole host of programs out there that make filling out your tax obligations and recording your profits and losses as simple and easy a process as possible. In addition to accounting software you can buy tax kits which include pre-printed federal tax forms along with W-2 and W-3 forms.
Customer Support
Paying customers are the lifeblood of every business so it’s important to keep them happy and feeling valued. Unfortunately though there will be times when you simply don’t have the resources to answer every query and question in a timely manner.
Fortunately technology has a solution in the form of chatbots which you can put on your website. These handy little tools will help to answer the questions of prospective customers looking you up online and point them in the right direction.
(If you have the resources you can also look into an automated receptionist that organises your diary and deals with customer enquiries.)
Business Analysis
30 years ago if you wanted to know how a certain product was faring or find out why your sales had dropped, you’d either have to employ a specialist to help or pour hours and hours into your own research and investigating.
Now there are a whole host of software systems available online that allow you to analyse your business performance in real time. With access to this type of data you can put to the test whether or not customers are loving a product just as much as you and focus your efforts on what items or services are really driving sales.
Online Sales
There are only a handful of businesses now that can get away with not selling their services online in some way. If you are not a member of this select group that involves lawyers, accountants and other professional service providers you have to invest a big chunk of time and money into your online offering.
Customers should be able to buy things from you in a timely and safe manner from their PC, laptop, tablet and mobile device. Delivery instructions should be transparent and easy to understand, product descriptions should be trustworthy and all in all, the process should be as stress free as possible.
We are currently living in a world where people can tell a device in their home to order shower gel from Amazon and it can arrive at their doorstep in less than 12 hours. Whilst no small to medium business on the planet can measure up to that level of on-demand service, your business should pull out all the stops for online customers.
In Summary
Technology can be your friend, especially when it comes to running a successful and forward thinking business. To stay ahead of the curve, constantly analyse your processes and research tools you can use to reduce the time you spend on non-profit making activities.
