There are about 33 million small businesses in the US. Many more are being created each year. Approximately 600,000 small businesses are made each year, and each business gives a couple of million jobs to the American people. These businesses also contribute more than half of the country’s gross domestic product. It’s an understatement to say that small businesses are the lifeline of the US economy. But they are not doing these feats alone. Technology has helped these businesses grow and survive every year. Without technology, they wouldn’t be where they are right now.
Years ago, many business owners struggled with various tasks in running a business. Some struggled with entertaining customer’s questions, while some struggled with letting their business known to the world. However, with the internet and artificial intelligence, life for businesses has become much simpler. Today many small businesses grow through the use of tech. Here are some technologies helping small businesses grow today.
Chatbots
Artificial intelligence has made life so much easier for many physical and digital companies in the world. You will notice that AI’s impact is seen in all aspects of technologies in this list. One of these technologies is chatbots.
Chatbots are a form of digital technology made to make the lives of many companies easier. They are integrated into the company’s system and are mainly found on their websites. Many digital companies rely on this particular technology to make certain mundane tasks easier. They are usually seen interacting and engaging customers once they’ve entered the website. They are also known to answer various inquiries asked by clients. At its core, chatbots make a company more efficient by alleviating tasks from different employees. These employees can then do other complex jobs that are beneficial for the company.
Currently, about 80% of businesses are planning to use chatbots. They have made their way into various industries, such as information technology, marketing, and even Healthcare. Furthermore, they are penetrating new markets as we speak. It’s expected that by 2021 many companies in the world would have increased their budget by 50% on bots and chatbots. But these Bots can’t do everything just yet.
There are some situations where chatbots cannot answer a particular inquiry. This is designated to employees who work in customer service. There are also some instances consumers don’t trust these bots and would prefer getting help from a representative instead. These are situations that are not in the heads of technology, but consumer choice and chatbots can’t really do anything about it.
Administrative Tech
The pandemic is making it hard for many companies worldwide to function normally. However, because of digital collaborative and administrative tools, work at home has become so much easier.
Many companies have implemented a work from home policy. But during the first few months of the pandemic, the structure almost made it near impossible to work. Administrative tasks became twice as challenging while collaboration was almost non-existent. It resulted in miscommunications and ruined projects. However, as the months pass by, many businesses have found the power of digital collaborative and administrative tools. These tools come in the form of Trello, Monday, and so much more.
These digital tools help assign tasks, collaborate on projects, and even set deadlines for work-at-home employees. This is also applicable to freelancers and contractual workers. If you need something done, you can assign it and give out a deadline anytime you want. You can even see their progress on a particular project. This has made work-at-home as efficient as working in an office.
This particular digital technology can also be found at a corporate level. For instance, there is digital administrative tech that helps corporations strategize their perceived growth in the future. This digital tool has integrated analytics in them to see how various elements fit into the picture and how they can be used. Additionally, the growth of a corporation can also be seen in real-time through the same data analytics software.
Slowly but surely, many businesses worldwide are seeing the benefits of a work-at-home policy. There is no rent to worry about and no utilities that the company has to pay for. Expenses are at an all-time low, while productivity is high due to these digital tools.
Marketing Tech
Marketing is the face of many companies nowadays. But gone are days when employees have to make posters, post billboards, and give out fliers manually. Digital marketing is the key to the future, and there are so many digital apps right now that can do this specific task.
So many animation and photography tools are now available to all kinds of consumers online. This tech has made it so much faster to create posters and designs for marketing campaigns. It has also made it so much easier for companies to reach their targeting audience through survey tools. The number of digital marketing tech online is vast. It’s just up to you to choose which will fit your company well.
Here are some digital technologies currently helping small businesses grow and flourish. Without these technologies, life would have been so much harder. Management would be almost near impossible to do given the number of employees we have today. But now, we integrate these digital techs into our companies so that we can live better lives.
