8 Technologies Making Modern Business Run Better

In an age when we’re frequently on a smartphone or computer, we’re surrounded by technology. With social media, email, and other applications, we’re always in touch with tech these days.

Yet surprisingly, many business people aren’t aware of the latest technologies that are almost critical for running a successful enterprise today. Technology has evolved well beyond hardware running accounting, word processing, and graphic design software. Failing to plan for the technological needs impacting a modern business can have major implications, from not being able to accept customer payments to not getting new customers in the first place.

While specific technologies vary among industry, type, and size of business, these are eight universal tools that entrepreneurs should be aware of when starting out:

Cloud-based software: Working from applications via Internet browser – instead of those downloaded and stored on your computer locally – means you’ll always have the latest version of the software and not have to hire a technology team of your own. You’ll get additional benefits such as redundant backups of your files, so you won’t have to worry about losing the only version of something stored on your own computer. Centralizing your work on the cloud allows your business to function almost anywhere, with remote access to documents you need and integrations that make you more productive. Look for cloud software that has secure (code encrypted) data transit and data storage.

Collaboration tools: Whether you’re a solopreneur or working with a team, you’ll need the ability to collaborate with key stakeholders inside and outside your company. Online collaboration tools help to align everyone involved in your business in terms of working documents, tasks at hand, and even company culture. The ability for multiple people to work on a project at once can even save you time, so consider a suite of products that will help your team collaborate openly and more efficiently.

Communication: Communication is a key for every small business, and finding the right channels should be an early priority for every entrepreneur. Emails are one of the most obvious (and most important) ways to communicate in business, but they are not the only option. For internal communication, you should also consider chat or group-text functions for informal communication that would otherwise flood an inbox. Externally, video conference tools with the ability to do screen shares at the same time make for efficient and more personal meetings with clients or suppliers.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management): Managing a business means managing people – but that means more than just your team. CRM software consolidates customer contact information and notes into a single platform. This allows small businesses to track conversations and to-do lists for each customer throughout the marketing and sales processes. Most CRM solutions also allow users to build customer pipelines, track leads, and continue to engage with customers once they’ve bought your product or service.

Customer Support Tools: To keep up with customers’ focus on online shopping and access to information, businesses should make sure that website visitors are getting exactly what they need directly on your website. One way to make information readily available is to have a customer support tool on the website that helps create a personal connection. Whether manned by an employee or through artificial intelligence, software that says “hello” to a customer as they enter and then answers their questions as they shop will help retain visitors to eventually close a sale.

Marketing Automation: For many entrepreneurs, the daily task of posting on social media or finding a great blog post to share can be one task too many to address. Marketing automation serves to help this problem. Marketing automation tools help to manage social media channels, analytics, content curation efforts, or even your network to take a few items off your plate. If you choose your tool well, it can even make digital marketing easy for a non-marketer.

POS (Point of Sale): If your business has a sales transaction with customers, a point of sale system is a requirement. POS used to just be services like cash registers and receipt printers, but those have advanced, and the online world has its own version of POS. For in-person transactions, your POS system could be as easy as having a smartphone and an app; for online transactions, you install code on your website or redirect to common pay providers. When choosing your solution, consider what’s fastest for you and most intuitive for your customers. Also consider security of any POS hardware and software you use, because if you ever physically hold or electronically store a customer’s financial information, you can be liable if it’s ever stolen.

Project management tools: Every small business has several moving parts. To help manage the mammoth workload and multitude of priorities, embrace project management software. You can rely on a tool or suite of tools to create to-do lists, start new initiatives, prioritize your work, track your progress, and document your thoughts along the way. These modern tools also allow for assignment of tasks to others and load-balancing how much is on your team’s plate.

It’s clear that entrepreneurs have some crucial decisions to make when it comes to small business technology. When making your choices, consider these questions:

• How many stakeholders need access to your files?
• Where will you be working from to access your files?
• What are you willing to automate versus doing manually?
• How will customers perceive your business technology?

Without the right technology in place, you could be wasting crucial time or losing track of your tasks entirely. Avoid these worst-case scenarios by leveraging technology that works for you.