There are over 33 million small businesses in the United States; yet, less than half use specialized software in their business operations. Various reasons, such as costs and knowledge, lead leaders and employees to avoid employing specialized software. However, I believe there is a need for more technology usage within small businesses, whether it be for accounting, marketing, or operational processes. Technology has the capability to enhance and/or grow a business’s capabilities.
Benefits
Let’s look at the benefits of technology usage in a business, we will explore technology usage in small businesses and focus on:
Efficiency
Effectiveness
Competitive advantage
Efficiency
Efficiency in a business is a necessity for strategic growth and sustainability (in terms of the ability to carry on year after year). According to the Chamber of Commerce, “18% of small businesses fail within their first year, while 50% fail after five years and approximately 65% by their tenth year in business.” One of the top reasons small businesses fail is ineffective business planning, I am assuming there is a lack of technology implementation and its alignment with organizational objectives. Proper technology implementation aids in negating small business failure because it can enhance business processes and operations through its ability to make a business run more efficiently to enable strategic growth and sustainability (as defined above). For example, accounting software may streamline and automate processes usually done manually. Technology implementation is inevitable given the rate at which it is changing society; as a small business, one must be willing to adapt to these changes.
Effectiveness
Effectiveness is focused on achieving the results aimed for. Whether you are aiming for higher profitability, higher customer satisfaction rates, or an increase in traffic to your business, technology can assist in these processes, from analyzing data to guiding you to achieve the goals. To be more effective through the usage of technology, a small business leader can integrate technology in alignment with the needs of the business. For example, an automated invoicing system may include the ability to build reports to enable informed decision-making through data analytics. The reports generated may even highlight other deficiencies in effectiveness. Technology, in turn, advances a business environment and creates efficiency when in alignment with the goals of a business.
Competitive Advantage
In an ever-changing technological environment, small businesses often find themselves competing to sustain a competitive advantage against other small businesses and larger corporations. Though the implementation of technology may be costly, if implemented correctly, it may increase a business's longevity through an increase in competitive advantage. There are many types of technological advancements that may assist in maintaining business operations. It is up to leadership to decipher which are most beneficial to the company and in alignment with organizational objectives. It is important to align technology with organizational objectives for the technology to reach its full capability within a business.
There are many ways to increase effectiveness, efficiency, and competitive advantage; implementing technology is becoming an increasingly important way to do so. Through breaking the bounds of manual input, technology has become overwhelmingly essential to businesses. Don't be afraid to unleash the potential of your business!
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