As a small business owner you are often overwhelmed with the needs of your business. There’s staffing, payroll and marketing to name just a few. So, it may seem like you don’t have time to worry about the rapid changes in technology. However, tech trends aren’t something you can’t ignore both because of the competitive edge they can provide and new technology will actually make your business easier to run. Read on for four trends to keep your eyes on as a small business owner.
The Cloud Is Growing
A few years ago businesses considered the cloud as a potential place to store data and remove localized servers. Now, going cloud native means businesses have completely reconfigured the tools by which they operate. Cloud services are now microservices run in containers. With the meteoric rise of Kubernetes, these containers can be managed and deployed automatically. While you may feel that your business is too small to invest in the necessary programming, the fact is that using these tools allows for the kind of instant scalability and agility of which businesses in the past only dreamed.
Artificial Intelligence Is Here
Speaking of things that have been dreamed of, artificial intelligence is here and it looks nothing like cloned humans. Instead, AI takes the form of computers that can actually learn from the data they are given. The example with which most people are familiar is Netflix’s ability to recommend shows you will like based on what you watch and what you give a thumbs up or down. Interestingly, Netflix was one of the first companies to also move their business totally into the cloud.
Learning what your customers will like is certainly important but one of the first ways most small businesses will interact with AI is through the use of chatbots. On business websites of all sizes, you’ll now find a chat box popping up offering to help with nearly any issue. While they may give names and avatars, these are actually AI computers that can provide customer service for a huge percentage of the basic inquiries people have, resolving up to 80% of basic customer service queries without involving a human being, and many people are never aware they weren’t speaking with a real person.
With the increased speed of communication, customers are no longer willing to wait for business hours or for an email reply. Chatbots allow even the smallest businesses to have round-the-clock basic customer service. Another benefit is your customer service team will have more bandwidth to dedicate to truly complicated problems, with chatbots weeding out basic questions.
HR Tech Is SaaS-y
As mentioned above, staffing and payroll can be a huge time sucks for small businesses. To get the best employees you need to offer benefits but if you offer benefits you’re held to many government regulations you would otherwise avoid.
Then there’s onboarding, training and time management. Thankfully, HR tech is expanding into its own subgenre of small business tools. Now you’ll find that the payroll software of past years is no longer just payroll and it isn’t installed, it’s software-as-a-subscription or SaaS. This cloud-based software makes it simple to deal with time management even if your entire team is remote. It integrates easily with your payroll software meaning no more tracking of hours and manually moving that information to payroll with the possibility for errors. Depending on the size and needs of your business there’s the possibility to automate benefits as well and integrate with payroll so tracking FMLA, disability, time off and accruals all become automated.
Social Media Is Marketing
The last trend to watch is less about using technology to smooth how your business runs and more about using general trends to direct your marketing budget where it will do the most good. Traditional advertising via billboard, radio or TV commercials blasted a broad population in the hope of reaching at least a few people in your target audience. With the rise of social media and the information those platforms collect about their users you are able to direct advertising specifically at people that fit your customer profile, giving you a much better return on investment.
Besides paying for ads on social media and search engines, look at partnering with social media influencers. Younger generations are less trusting of traditional advertising while they have a growing dependence on the opinions of people they follow on social media. Invest in a partnership with an influencer to show your product in use, give a review, or simply show it in the background. All three methods have been shown to positively influence sales when you find the right influencer for your audience.
Conclusion
Whether you’re planning for a scalable future, improving your service to customers and employees or growing your business through the latest channels, following the latest tech trends can give you a leg up on your competition.
