Major Technologies SMEs Can Leverage to Accelerate Business Growth

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have helped transform local economies globally. According to a Microsoft study, techno-friendly SMEs made greater progress than those firms who used little or no technology. While SMEs tend to differ in their size and capacity to grow, a common challenge they all face is how to integrate IT in an economically feasible manner. As the pace of innovation and productivity accelerates, SMEs can no longer afford to play catch-up. There are a number of technological changes they can adopt to help grow their business. Some of them are:

The use of cloud is gaining momentum. Cloud aids SMEs to become more agile and help in reducing costs and gain competitive advantage. The capability to offer a solution/service that is managed by experts on secure data servers helps SMEs focus their time on innovating efficiently.

This SaaS model, when utilized properly, can facilitate business processes such as inventory management, finances and business work-flows. Another benefit is the accessibility of a ‘pay as you go’ model that can assist SMEs in adjusting their consumption depending on the need of the hour. For example, web apps such as Asana have made it easier for teams to collaborate on projects. Google drive and Dropbox are other examples of products on the web that are increasingly being adopted by small businesses to improve productivity.

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The US Small Business Administration (SBA) estimated that post 2014, the number of smart-phone users will surpass the number of people using computers. As an SME are you ready to capitalize on this change? Is your website mobile-ready for users to access your services or products ? These are some questions every business owner will need to answer as the world moves to using their smartphones to browse and buy simultaneously.

Google recently announced updates to its search algorithm which will now rank mobile-ready sites higher than the ones that aren’t. This implies that businesses that have not adapted to the new mobile driven trend will fall behind in reaching out to users who access websites using their phones. From educational searches to searching for restaurant, users are increasingly accessing services using mobile apps. If you are an SME that deals directly with consumers and you don’t have an app for it – you may be losing sales to customers using mobile apps. Partnering with a right mobile app development service provider like Rishabh Software can help you gear up as a mobile-ready business.

Organizations generate large amounts of business data. Big data applications help companies convert this data into meaningful information and help locate the business value hidden in it. Analytic software and applications can also help SMEs to drill deeper and evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing initiatives or forecast performance over a period of time.

Leveraging these newer platforms has become an imperative for smaller businesses and startups to stay competitive. A number of organizations now make it possible for SMBs to invest in newer technologies to stay ahead of the game. One of them is Kabbage. As a small business funding provider, they offer small business loans that can be utilized to help your business make use of latest tech resources such as Cloud and Big Data. Therefore, with sufficient funding and through the use of SaaS products, mobile technology and analytics, small businesses can improve their ROI, reach a larger target market and make better business decisions on the go.