Technology for Your Small Business

Whether you own a clothing boutique, a craft store, a restaurant or an accounting firm, your small business can benefit from technology. Some business owners may think this obvious, but others may hesitate a bit and wonder if there could be such a thing as too much technology. It’s always necessary to strike a balance, of course, and technology can never substitute for old-fashioned customer service and hard work. But it can sometimes make life a little easier. Read on to learn about some technology you might try for your business.

A Sales Associate

Technology can actually be a helpful sales associate of sorts for your small business. You might implement a point of sale system, for instance, to help you keep track of everything from online orders to customer loyalty programs. These systems are specially designed for various kinds of businesses. You can, for instance, get a specialized quilt and fabric POS for a craft store or a jewelry POS for a jewelry store. Shop around to find the features you need, for this software could make your life a lot easier.

A Financial Friend

If doing your accounting by hand is getting old, then consider finding an accounting program to provide some help. Look for something that is easy to use. You should be able to enter income and expenses, keep track of your checking and savings accounts, create invoices and print out reports that allow you to see every financial aspect of your business. You might actually start to enjoy doing the books with software like this.

A Planning Expert

As a business owner, you’re busy, sometimes far too busy. Therefore, you need to keep track of all your tasks and appointments. A paper calendar and planner might be working for you, but you can’t always take these with you. Here’s where the technology comes in. If you put a planner and calendar app on your phone and sync it to your computer and other devices, you’ll have all your lists and events at your finger tips all the time. These will also be easier to categorize and search, and you could stay more organized in the long run.

An Inventory Assistant

Perhaps your business involves selling products. In that case, technology can help you manage your inventory. You know how difficult it can be to keep track of all your wares. Inventory software lets you enter what you own, note what sells, set and change prices and look at reports and data to help you decide if you need to eliminate some products, purchase more of others or even add new ones. You may be surprised at how much easier this software makes inventory tracking after you go through the initial effort of setting it up.

A Marketing Partner

Technology can also serve as a marketing partner for you. Your business probably has a website, but are you using it to its greatest potential? Consider adding SEO optimization to your site to increase its appearance in search engines, for example. You might add some videos about your business or, if you haven’t already done so, introduce online ordering. Technology can also help you create terrific banners, business cards, postcards and email newsletters. Just look for convenient templates online, and customize them with your own logos, text, colors and fonts. You’ll end up with a professional product in half the time you would spend building it from scratch.

A Security Watchman

Finally, since so much business is done electronically these days, you need to use technology as a security watchman for your business. Make sure that your website, internal computer networks and individual computers and devices have the best security software you can afford. This will help prevent data breaches and provide your customers with peace of mind when they shop with you.

Just look at all the ways technology can benefit your small business. Don’t be afraid of it. You can always hire an expert to help you set up new technology and teach you how to use it. But do try a few of these ideas. You might even like them!