Solutions For Small Businesses: How To Compete With The Big Ones?
Technology has quickly become the best friend of SMEs, thus finding solutions for small businesses . Whether it is accounting software or business plan software, technology has leveled the playing field, so it is now possible for SMBs to compete with large companies. With new technology models, companies of all sizes now have access to the same technology that is helping to increase productivity and sales. Therefore, here we mention the 10 points and IT tools to enable your SME.
1. Have Specialized IT Advice
An important point to consider is to always have an IT service provider that provides advice, regardless of the line of business of our SME. A technological advisor will help us define what is most convenient for us and that will always keep us focused on the business.
2. Internet Access
The first step to consider to enable our SMEs is to have Internet access that provides us with adequate availability. There are several levels of services to have Internet access, the best of which is offered by the so-called dedicated links ; This is a very high level of availability, since having a good level of Internet service is like having our business open 24 hours a day.
3. Telephone Service And Switchboard
It is important to be close to our clients, wherever they are, for this reason, the telephone service is of the utmost importance in practically any line of business. The evolution of telecommunications has given us the opportunity to now have our telephone service through the Internet, which is known as VoIP Service (Voice over IP).
With this service it is possible to obtain savings of up to 40% compared to the traditional telephone service. In addition, you have the possibility of having a switch in the Cloud, yes, in the Cloud! This means that we do not need to have a physical switch in our facilities, saving energy, maintenance, air conditioning, among other advantages.
4. Presence In Social Networks
Create and increase your presence on social networks. Social marketing is on the rise like never before, and it’s a hotspot for our business. The key is to be agile when managing them, since a social network that does not have feedback to customers or does not update its content generates a bad image. Therefore, it is important to give ourselves the time to review them frequently and provide feedback to clients or prospects.
5. Presence On The Internet (Effective Website)
In addition to the previous point of having a presence on social networks, having a website is a necessity. Studies show that more than 80% of our potential customers first check the company’s website before physically going to it. Having a site generates a strong image of our brand and allows us to have the possibility of designing it to our liking, in addition to having an intelligence engine to count visits (or likes) and have a better knowledge of our clients or prospects from the site.
Our suggestion continues to be not to fill ourselves with equipment in our facilities, therefore, it is better to contract servers in the Cloud that allow us to have greater agility when managing it, in addition to the fact that, if our SME is in the growth stage, it is very likely that We do not have the necessary knowledge to manage a website like a Cloud service provider does, which invites us not to worry about technology and gives us more time to focus on the business. As a final suggestion, our site must be designed so that it can be viewed on mobile devices.
6. Business Applications
It is common for SMEs to use spreadsheets to have information about our clients, or to track sales. Business applications offer a solution that organizes leads, contacts, opportunities, and accounts in one place; This helps make the sales force more productive, gives sales management visibility into performance, and enables executives to make the right decisions to increase revenue.
7. Information Backup
Having an information backup solution is like taking out property insurance. The information of our business is also a patrimonial asset and, therefore, it is highly important to contract an information backup service in the cloud. Studies show that 93% of SMEs that lose sensitive information tend to close their doors in the following year due to these incidents.
8. Security Services
Since virtually all SMEs require Internet access, it is critical that mechanisms are in place to protect them. One of the first lines of defense is anti-virus software. Protects computers and networks against dangerous viruses, spyware , Trojan horses, worms, and other malicious programs. Without this protection, SMBs could encounter an infected computer, which could lead to data loss. Similarly, Internet content filtering systems also promote security within our SMEs
9. Unified Communication
In addition to Internet telephony, communications via email or instant messaging, even a business videoconferencing solution , that is, unified communications , are essential for our SMEs. Communication today flows very commonly through these means, so our company cannot be outside of this priority need.
10. Video Surveillance
The security of our SMEs has to be a priority, therefore, a video surveillance system allows us to see everything that happens in our business. It is a practical tool that helps us to immediately solve any type of problem that happens in the business.
Also Read : Business Mobility And Its Role In The Path Of Digital Transformation