Passion is good when you’re starting up your own business. About $30,000 is enough to jump-start a business. Being optimistic and brave enough to handle the stress of running a business will get you through the process. Competition is tight, and the costs of almost all business needs are high.
But a few worthy tech investments will help you come out strong in the competition. These hacks will help a business thrive in the long run, and they won’t cost a million bucks.
Be a bigger player in the game against other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the use of technology.
Here are a handful of technology’s blessings that allow businesses to strive amid competition:
An Appealing Online Business Profile
Establishing favorable online reputation is — well, favorable. Many consumers turn to Google for information about a specific business, service, or product. Every day, Google’s Internet Live Stats records close to 3.5 billion searches, which amounts to about 1.2 trillion searches every year across the globe.
A survey by Zendesk revealed that among 1,000 people, 90 percent of them said positive reviews online influenced their buying decisions. Eighty-six percent of the respondents said the same thing for negative reviews. Comments about your business or products and services can appear on Google’s Knowledge Panel, which is the box that appears on the right side of search results detailing your information.
The number of stars and reviews presented in the Knowledge Panel would be an appealing factor to most consumers, as the Zendesk survey found.
A Free Training Stint for Skills
Free courses also help you improve skills that could propel your business forward.
You could start with free learning videos on YouTube. These videos can answer the questions of most businesses. Imagine receiving the training necessary for, let’s say, digital marketing. Typing “digital marketing” on the search bar will provide videos on strategies and hacks for digital marketing.
HubSpot, Digital Garages in Birmingham and Leeds, and Organise Chaos Ltd are also some of the resources that offer online learning without the cost. Learn how to create digital marketing plans or study how to retain and grow your consumers through analytics.
A Virtual Assistant
A voice-activated assistant can help you function like a business with a good number of employees, even when you’re still doing things on your own. Thanks to AI technology, smartphones can help you with things like managing your schedules, setting reminders, monitoring sales and revenues. You can even watch over your brick-and-mortar store in real-time, from anywhere, through a smartphone or tablet.
Amazon has developed Alexa for Business; it works for a range of business settings, from coworking spaces to hotels. So what can it do for you? Alexa for Business will help you start meetings, control conference features, and manage work calendars, among others.
A Simple Digital Marketing Strategy
Digital marketing is the arena where SMEs and big companies can compete on equal footing.
When it comes to digital marketing, it’s not about who has the money; it’s about who has the right tactic in ranking. A positive and strong online reputation is one key factor in achieving this goal. But there are many other factors, which include search engine optimization (SEO).
Your digital marketing strategy has to be built around the specific requirements of Google, such as link-building schemes, content marketing, and latent semantic index (LSI). Why Google? It’s the biggest search engine, which means greater opportunities for your business.
Carry out an effective digital marketing tactic and manage your time with these tech hacks. Whether you’ve just developed a startup or are looking to expand your small business, today’s technologies allow you to make the most of limited resources.