Cost-effective tech solutions for small business efficiency

*This article was written by Harikrishna Kundariya, founder and director of eSparkBiz.

According to data published by Luisa Zhou, the US comprises 33.3 million small businesses, wherein these businesses are responsible for 64% of new jobs every year. Small businesses create 1.5 million jobs in the country annually, showcasing a steady and expansive growth.

Moreover, as per Tidio’s statistics on small businesses in the US, reports from the Small Business Administration Council showcased that small businesses contribute approximately 44% of the country’s GDP (gross domestic product). More than 15% of all small businesses in the US operate in the online sales and retail domain. This points toward the rise of virtual platforms and tools to enhance the reach of these businesses.

According to recent research, 72% of company executives believe that AI will be deployed in their organizations within the span of two years. Hence, it is imperative that organizations leverage technology to ensure competitiveness and meet the constantly changing demands of modern customers.

This means it is only fair that small businesses use technology and data to their utmost benefit in order to acquire a return on investment and profitability in the long run.

Do small businesses require tech solutions for enhanced efficiency?

First of all, let’s be clear about what we mean when we talk about ‘tech solutions‘. These are basically technology-driven platforms, applications, and tools that can help automate and facilitate the supply chain process, marketing strategy, or any other part of the selling cycle.

Tech solutions are an indispensable, if not strategically required, aspect in enhancing the scalability of small businesses. These solutions not only increase efficiency but are also key players in boosting consumer behavior, imperative for driving sales, and much more.

When small businesses leverage the power of tech solutions, they essentially expand their opportunities to offer goods and services to the public. This results in getting the business to connect with consumers, who then indulge in the business.

This is why, over the years, tech solutions have become cost-effective yet result-oriented, allowing small businesses to streamline their work. Thus, this increases the productivity of small businesses, among other advantages.

What are the benefits of tech solutions for small businesses?

Whether you are a budding eCommerce company, an Amazon FBA seller, or a small business entrepreneur offering novelty products – if you wish to scale your business and make it efficient, you must take advantage of tech solutions.

Having interacted with multiple small businesses as customers over the years, we have accumulated a list of benefits tech solutions offer for small business efficiency:

Productivity and inculcating automation

The charm of manual work is unmatched. However, it is not cost-efficient or efficiency-oriented, which is where tech solutions for small business come into the picture. 

Marketing automation tools like HubSpot and Mailchimp, along with workflow automation tools like Zapier, are ideal for small and medium-sized enterprises. These tools result in cutting down task redundancy, improving digital presence, and encouraging customer engagement.

Enhanced business agility

Small businesses can implement agility by using tech solutions that allow them to respond and change according to the changing market trends. Cost-efficient tools that deal with cloud computing and data analytics can help small businesses with faster service and product launches, quality control, and improved business features.

CloudHealth, CloudZero, and AWS Budgets are some of the cost-efficient cloud computing tool options for small businesses.

Better streams of revenue

Technology solutions are a two-faced coin. They allow your small business to flourish without costing you a fortune. One of the benefits of using tech solutions is that they allow small businesses to generate better revenue streams.

Investing in cost-efficient CRM software to allow customer personalization, chatbots to nurture leads, and software that analyzes data to help with decision-making is bound to result in more leads and revenue.

Improved staff collaboration

The rise of remote work and collaborative tools for it goes hand in hand with the rise of small businesses across the globe. Small businesses can leverage the power of efficient employees regardless of its locations with tech solutions like project management software, digital workplaces, and collaboration tools.

Examples of these tools are Asana, Microsoft Teams, Hive, and G Suite. These tools not only boost a small business’s productivity but also allow organizations to hire valuable new assets to the team.

Enhanced storage solutions

Data is important to all businesses, be it a small, medium, or large enterprises. Hence, digitizing data is essential for small businesses instead of using outdated legacy systems. Leveraging cost-effective cloud storage solutions is reliable and more secure for small businesses, as these software can be accessed from anywhere in the globe.

Additionally, cost-effective storage solutions like Dropbox, OneDrive, and MEGA, among others, eliminate the requirement to maintain bulky data servers that take up a lot of space and cost a lot more.

Now that you are aware of the need for and benefits of tech solutions for small business efficiency, let’s dive straight into which cost-effective tech solutions you can leverage for your small business.

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4 tech solutions for small businesses

1. Digital marketing tools

In order for small businesses to flourish, it is imperative they have a strong digital presence, which can be a costly affair if these businesses outsource professionals to do this work. However, to reach your target audience and engage with them, you can simply leverage cost-efficient digital marketing tools like Sprout Social, Hootsuite, or Buffer, which allow you to schedule posts, interact with social media followers, and analyze performance metrics.

As per Colorlib, almost 60% of small businesses use digital marketing, and it’s high time you, as a small business owner, leverage the same if you haven’t used digital marketing tools as tech solutions yet.

2. Cloud computing

Cloud computing enables cost control, which can be considered one of the most important tech solutions for small business owners, by offering benefits like monetary cost-cutting (given that businesses will only pay for the IT resources it uses.) Apart from eliminating the need to invest in high-end IT infrastructure, cloud computing tools also allow employees to access data from anywhere, enabling better collaboration.

Additionally, cloud computing is known for prominent security features like authentication, encryption, and intrusion detection systems. Amazon Web Services, Dropbox, Asana, and Google Cloud are some of your ideal choices when opting for cost-efficient cloud computing. 

3. Data analytics

Adopting a statistics-based method is the key to small businesses flourishing. It allows businesses to stay ahead of the latest trends in an aggressive market landscape. Small businesses can leverage data analytics software like Google Analytics, Qlik Cloud, Knime, and others, to understand what their consumers really want and thereby incorporate that into the business.

A study revealed that organizations effectively using data analytics witnessed a 131% improvement in decision-making, resulting in a higher marketing ROI. Moreover, understanding consumer behavior via data analytics also offers scope for improvement.

4. eCommerce platform management

The boom in eCommerce is also responsible for small businesses being able to thrive, which is why you should take advantage of eCommerce management platforms to enhance efficiency. These platforms allow small businesses reach a wider consumer range and improve customer experience. Hence, tools like BigCommerce, Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, and others come in handy as eCommerce platforms that are cost-effective and useful for small businesses.

eCommerce management platforms can help small businesses expand their market presence by enabling them to reach consumers beyond their local market. Additionally, leveraging these tools helps small businesses automate key processes like managing orders, processing payments, and tracking inventories.

Conclusion

The above-mentioned cost-effective tech solutions for small business efficiency are dynamic in nature yet relevant in the future as well. Utilizing these tech solutions allows small businesses to shine in their distinct niches while setting the foundation for expansion and profitability. 

With AI coming into the picture, small businesses can also ensure that their websites have AI-powered chatbots, allowing consumers to get their queries answered 24/7. While automation is relatively new, task automation is also one of the tech solutions that small businesses can leverage in the long run.

According to a report by Business Dasher, 90% of all small and medium business enterprises use digital communications tools while 37% of small businesses have employed artificial intelligence. Additionally, 85% of small business owners reported that they have achieved success by leveraging technology in their businesses. 

Such statistics prove that business owners are leveraging the benefits of tech solutions for small businesses to enhance profitability and efficiency over time. To take your business efficiency to the next level, consider 8fig’s funding and financial tools designed to empower small business growth. With these cost-effective tech solutions and their benefits, the future for small businesses seems very promising.

Have article ideas, requests, or collaboration proposals? Reach out to us at editor@8fig.co – we’d love to hear from you.

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