With every technological advance, our world shifts closer to a complete digital takeover.

We’re already beginning to move away from paper-based systems. More and more companies are relying on cloud-based technologies and storage in order to mitigate the costs of running a business.

Take my nine-to-five employer for example.

In the two years I’ve been there, we’ve slowly began shifting to becoming “paperless” – although being totally digital will likely never happen. By scanning in paperwork and recycling it rather than storing hard copies in endless filing cabinets, we cut our printer and trash costs. But with so many advances taking place in such a short time, it can be incredibly difficult to keep up with the latest trends and processes.

It’s possible to read about the latest tech in a magazine or online and see how it could apply to your business. But truthfully, unless you’re at the forefront of business innovation, you’re unlikely to find a way to utilize new technologies in your business until another company does it first. This results in chasing other organizations’ tails and never leading the pack.

To fix this, it’s important to clearly define the role of technology in your business.

Whether you’re hosting a blog and using it as your main source of income or selling antiques as a side business, it’s incredible important that you don’t underuse the technology you pay for. If you do, you’ll end up wasting its potential. Let’s talk about how to define clear roles for technology in your business, as well as explain the role that technology has in a concise and easy-to-understand way that will reshape your company ethos.

Technology wasn’t always a necessity in business.

Let’s think back two or three decades ago. Technology such as computers and cloud technology didn’t exist in its current form. In fact, cloud technology is something that has only grown popular with business owners in the past decade. In terms of new innovations, it can still be considered a relatively new development. The options are still being explored for business use. So if businesses never used to rely on the latest technology, why is it suddenly a necessity now?

The truth is, you don’t need technology to run a business. Sure, computers and other digital solutions help. They certainly make running a business easier! But you can still get by using traditional methods of bookkeeping, invoicing, and so on. The downside is that you won’t be as efficient or responsive as other companies who do rely on technology. But that doesn’t mean you can’t operate an organization without it.

If technology isn’t necessary, what is the point of it?

Simply put: it’s to make things more efficient and productive. Technology – though often a distraction – can actually help your employees stay on track. It can allow them to get more work done in a shorter amount of time. And most importantly for us online business owners, technology helps us stay in touch with our audiences so we have more information to utilize when growing our brands or tweaking our products.

Unfortunately, many businesses don’t understand the root of technology and why it’s being used in the first place.

They simply see it as a necessity. They overload their workflow with multiple technological processes, creating a convoluted mess that is hard to understand and not as efficient as they had hoped. In other words, without understanding why technology is used, people sometimes rely on it and fail to optimize their workflow. This results in a surprisingly slow and inefficient business.

Modern technology has also become a mainstay due to how effective modern software and hardware is at defending your company from cyber criminals. Whether it’s antivirus software or physical key cards for your security at the office, there are plenty of ways to secure your business. It’s important to get the right source of IT assistance when planning your security measures. Every business has vulnerabilities. It’s important to identify and deal with them in a timely and efficient manner.

Use smarter approaches to upgrading your business technology.

Now that you have a deeper understanding of how to think about technology in relation to your company, let’s list a few smart approaches to help you upgrade your business tech and make it more usable.

How much can you afford to pay for new technology?

If you’re not speaking to your financial advisor then you may end up investing more money than you can afford for a small benefit.

Will your staff require training to adopt new technology?

A hidden cost to new tech is the price of training your staff to adopt it. Whether it’s taking lessons with a third-party company, or investing the time and effort to train newer recruits, it’s an expense you can’t afford to forget.

How will the new upgrades affect your customers?

Everything you do should lead to improving the customer experience. If you move away from paper-based worcokflows, how will it affect your customers? Will they need to switch to email and SMS to receive alerts from you? Or will you still offer an option for customers who prefer paper-based billing, invoicing, and promos?

Are there low-budget options that can help you?

Virtually every piece of tech that you add to your company has a low-budget alternative that could be smarter to invest in. For instance, if your office needs typical office productivity software, using Google Drive could be far more cost-effective than Office 365.

There are many approaches you can take to make upgrading your business technology smoother and smarter.

However, it’s important to consider what the purpose of technology is in your business. Are you aiming to optimize a certain process? Or do you want your employees to be more comfortable with their workflow?

It’s crucial that you first identify the role technology has in your business before you make any serious developments. It’ll help save you time, money, and effort in the long run. Without a comprehensive plan to help you along, you’re going to end up paying more for technology that doesn’t truly help your business in the ways you need.

 

What technology do you find most effective and efficient in running your own business? Give us your suggestions in the comments!