Your Business’s Tech: A Blessing Or A Curse?

– Contributed content –

27 November 2017. There’s no denying that the world that we live in today is one that is almost entirely dominated by technology. We live and breath technology pretty much constantly in a way that many people would have been genuinely shocked by even a decade or two ago. We’re always connected to the internet, and most of us carry devices in our pockets at all times that are more powerful than the one that first landed men on the moon! Of course, in such a tech-dominated world, it should hardly come as much of a shock how much of an influence that has had on the world of business. Many newer business owners are finding that technology is able to provide some incredibly important services for them, while some older companies still struggle to figure out how best to utilize it.

Because of this, a lot of people simply aren’t sure just how much of a benefit or drawback embracing tech in their business can be. The truth is that it’s a little bit of both much of the time. The big question is whether or not the challenges that are present in pretty much any case of a business embracing new tech represent something that’s worth the positive trade-off that comes with it. With that in mind, here are some of both the positive and negative things that you need to consider when trying to embrace tech in your business more effectively.

The Good

Increased efficiency

(lezhadob, Pixabay)

One thing that technology is pretty much guaranteed to be better at than people is efficiency. Human beings are generally pretty inefficient when it comes down to it which is something that is becoming less and less forgivable in the modern business world. By using the right tech to help them and to create a much stronger sense of efficiency within your business, the entire process is going to be much, much easier. Whether it’s communication, processing invoices, a centralized procurement process, or doing just about anything else, there is technology or software out there that can make any task far easier and more efficient to perform.

Saving money

One of the most wonderful things about technology in the modern world is that it’s opened the doors of business just about anyone with an internet connection and a great idea. Previously you needed huge amounts of capital to get your business up and running but now its never been easier to do deal with certain aspects of your business without having to end up out of pocket. Not only has it never been easier or cheaper to find all of the information that you need to run a successful business but you also have free services like social media at your disposal. Not only that but you’re also in a great position to save money on things like office spaces since technology allows for things like remote working which means that you and your employees can all work independently from home.

Improved marketing reach

(Negative Space, Pexels)

Previously, if you wanted to make the most of some kind of marketing push, then you either needed a lot of money or a lot of resources at your disposal. For a small business then the best thing that you could do would be to make sure that you’re able to market directly to people in the areas directly around your business. Now, thanks to the internet, it’s possible to market your business on a national and even international level without having to deal with that much extra difficulty. Sure, you’re still going to have to make sure that your marketing strategies are actually effective in the first place, but once you’ve done that, things like social media, SEO, and viral marketing allow you to reach out to a far larger audience that you could previously have even dreamed of.

Staying ahead of the pack

The reality of the business world is that it’s a constant struggle and competition. If you’re not pushing your business to be the very best, then a company that is will simply overtake you and leave you in the dust. By embracing technology and being aware of what the latest innovations are, you’re able to stay one step ahead of your competition at all times. The reality is that if you’re not pushing your business forward, then you’re going to end up getting left in the dust and in a world as fast-paced as ours, that’s something that you really can’t afford.

The Bad

Wasted time

Of course, however helpful technology can be when it comes to increasing the productivity of your business, it can cause just as many problems as it solves if you’re not careful. Out of all of the things that can make life incredibly difficult for your business, slow internet is one of the simplest and most infuriating. If your technology is running slowly, then it could be down to a number of reasons. The best thing to do is to contact ATB Technologies and request a network review to diagnose and fix the problem. No matter what the reason is, having to deal with things like this can not only be a waste of your time but it can slow things down in just about every aspect of your business because of how pervasive digital technology is to just about everyone part of any company these days.

Human error

(Vojtech Okenka, Pexels)

There’s a rather accurate acronym that is used among a lot of IT professionals: PICNIC. This stands for “problem in chair, not in computer”. It’s incredibly common to find that your tech is actually functioning perfectly well, it’s just that it’s not being used properly by the people in your business. You need to make sure that your employees all know exactly what to do when it comes to the tech that your business needs. Of course, there’s only really one way to do this: you need to offer them as much training as possible. Leaving your employees to wing it and sort things out for themselves is just going to make life much harder for everyone and will only ever lead to them forming bad habits that will decrease efficiency in the long run. By providing them with the right kinds of training then you can be sure that everyone is on the same page and isn’t falling into the same old mistakes.

New working methods

One of the biggest challenges to any business is trying to roll out significant changes to an entire workforce. As technology improves and our understanding of the business world increases, new working methods are appearing all the time. Of course, you need to make sure that you’re embracing these working methods since many of them are designed to not only produce better work but are more efficient as well. However, far too often businesses don’t bother to embrace the different working methods that new tech can introduce to a business which leads to them losing productivity and ending up at a pretty significant disadvantage when compared to their competitors. Whenever your business embraces a new piece of tech, then you have to be ready to update the ways in which your employees engage with their work. Sometimes these changes will be subtle, and sometimes they’re going to be significant, either way, if you can adjust your business to deal with them, you’re going to end up in a risky position.

Falling behind

The reality of a tech-dominated business landscape is that the pace of it has increased hugely over the last decade or so. The reality is that if you’re not pushing your business to keep up with the competition at all times, you’re almost certain to get left behind. Tech can be a wonderful way to push your business forward, but if you’re not paying attention to it, there’s a chance that your competitors could do the same and leave you playing catch up. Never assume that just because you don’t have the fullest understanding of the tech at your disposal, that your competitors are in the same position. The truth is that most of them are more than willing to leave you and your business in the dust if they get the chance. The only way to stop that from happening is to stay as up-to-date and informed about the tech that your business is using as possible.

As you can see, this is hardly a cut and dry case that you can easily find a right answer for. The decision of how to embrace technology in your business is not one that you should take lightly. Sure, it’s pretty much unavoidable that you’ll use newer technology from time to time, but how much of a benefit that technology is your business as a whole, often comes down to you and how you use it. As long as you think carefully about how you’re going to be using the tech in your business, then you’re going to able to get the most out of it without having to deal with some of the biggest challenges.

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