Top 5 Ways your Business can use technology to gain a competitive advantage.

Technology is revolutionizing businesses and it’s becoming a fundamental requirement for a successful business. The biggest question in the minds of most entrepreneurs/business owners today is “How can my business use technology to gain competitive advantage?

In the current business environment, small to medium-sized enterprises must adapt to new technologies in other to stay relevant in a competitive economy and have access to the global marketplace.
Technology has a big impact on the way businesses are currently run and presents ways businesses can use it to increase revenue and reduce operational costs.
Doing business in a very competitive economy like Nigeria, in the year 2020 must come with a renewed approach and the best way to go about this is to incorporate technology in your core business operations.

I have highlighted five (5) ways in which businesses can use technology to provide more value and grow exponentially.

  Create a tech-savvy work environment & employ IT personnel:

The business world is becoming increasingly digitized allowing for a more efficient work process, as well as offering employees the flexibility to work remotely (from anywhere).

As such, this is the time to get the culture at your office to become more technology-driven. The cloud is where almost all businesses will be working in the next 6 years.

Your business must, therefore, embrace cloud technologies. From managing payroll and employee time to invoice and balance sheets, cloud technologies are making these processes incredibly simple. Cloud solutions to adopt include Google Drive (for data management and storage), Google Sheets (for spreadsheet/accounting operations), Microsoft Office 365 (For a complete business operation & data management).

One of the best ways your business can use technology to drive change is to incorporate this new thinking early enough is to test for skills in using any cloud solution during recruitment or lay this foundation during new staff onboarding.

Also, businesses attract great talents by cultivating a collaborative and tech-driven working environments.

Be accessible- Get a business website. It’s your strong selling point:

The internet is a place where virtually all your potential customers and clients spend most of their time. Almost everyone uses the internet to get information and potential customers are using their smartphones to decide what to buy.

Your business must not be left out when people search for services on the internet. People expect businesses to have their websites just as they want them to have a physical office. 

Not having a website will question the integrity and credibility of your business. Having a business website is one great way your business can use technology to gain a strong online presence and a competitive advantage.

This is why at Onesphere Solutions, we help organizations develop amazing & stunning websites that would keep their business in pace with technology. Think of your business website as an online billboard where many people will get to know your product or services. 

A fully mobile-optimized website is becoming non-negotiable for any ambitious SME.

Digital Marketing:

Technology can free your small business from the restriction of print ads when it comes to reaching new and existing customers. There is, therefore, the need for you to expose your business to the internet through internet marketing. Small businesses with limited marketing budgets can compete favorably with bigger brands when it comes to internet marketing space.

In an ever-growing digital era, a small or large business can use technology to compete with established corporations that have a much larger marketing budget. An effective digital marketing strategy can get a lot of people talking about your products or services online which leads to more customer acquisition in the long run. 

Out-witting your competitors in a vast populated & clouded internet space will, however, require diligence and exploring all social media platforms. Get your business a LinkedIn account, Facebook page, Instagram and a twitter account where you can showcase your products or services. 

Use teleconferencing and collaboration tools for meetings and team working: 

Your team can work on lots of documents together and regularly share them with your clients using collaboration tools. 

This will increase the efficiency of their performance and deliver your job with minimal cost and effort. You can use these tools to hold meetings with people in different locations. Phones & email conversations are quite good for interacting with your intending clients but advancement in technology brought web conferencing to the fore. 

So you can now use Teleconferencing tools to get a contract, hold meetings with your intending clients who are in other countries while seeing them face to face. Skype and Zoom are some of the best teleconference tools while Slack is great for collaboration and project management. Leveraging teleconferencing and collaboration tools are effective ways a business can use technology to gain a competitive advantage.

Analyze performance:

Data is a highly valued asset in today’s connected world and is growing in volume like never before. Data analytics tools provide various insights from business data which serves as opportunities for startups & SMEs to create a competitive advantage through informed decision making. 

Today’s data technologies provide advanced reporting and business analysis capability to help you gain a deep understanding of business performance, customer preferences, and market trends. 

Also, executives and business managers can access business performance metrics and analytical reports via a web-based or mobile application dashboard. Insight from these tools can be used to redesign new business strategies. Get your business data analytics tools like Power BI, Tableau to do your data and business analysis. For any of your consulting services on data analytics & corporate training on business intelligence, Onesphere Solutions is at your service. You can send your inquiries to info@onesphere.com.ng