May 4, 2008

Weather the Economy: Using Technology

I KNOW that technology is not the only thing small businesses need in their business and especially is not the only thing they need to weather the "down" economy. However, one thing that can definitely help them is technology. Hey, I'm a geek - what do you expect?

Intuit's "Get Back to Business" survey indicated that nine out of 10 U.S. small business owners reported seeing opportunities for their businesses in the current recession, and more than 75 percent expect growth.

If you missed the Third Annual Small Business Summit - February 2008 hear the presentations about how technology (and other things) can help change your business.

The survey goes on to read For many, however, the passion is tempered by the frustrations with the administrative side of running a company. Sixty-four percent wished they could spend less time doing paperwork and invoices, and more time getting back to the business of running their business. When asked if they could hire one additional person to do any job in their business, nearly 40 percent said they would bring on administrative support, such as a bookkeeper, to help get organized and help with billing.

Beyond finances, which are crucially important, some smart investments you can take for your business are:

• Training (you and your employees) to use the technology you have in more productive ways.
• Hiring an assistant (in your office or virtual) to do things that your time could be better spent doing.
• Considering how you can touch your customer more or better such as an upgraded web site, email newsletter, pod cast.
• Analyzing your mobile technology. Are you wasting money on cell phone bills? Should you upgrade old notebooks so your sales staff can be more productive.

These are just a few things. But overall, taking the manual process out of business processes can definitely help your business operate faster, more efficient, save time and money and overall be much more productive.

tags: general , intuit | 0 comments