5 Everyday Technologies for Small Businesses that Can Do More than You Think

Technology is continuously changing the way small businesses operate and helping them compete with larger corporations. The rampant development of technologies like our smartphones and tablets has also pushed the limit you can go with it. These everyday technologies used by small businesses can actually do more than you think. 

Sometimes small business owners seek and use expensive technologies to operate their platforms because they think they have used up their options in affordable software. Or because the option is affordable it doesn’t make it good enough. Here are five everyday technologies for small businesses that can do more than you think.

Social Intranet Software 

Social intranet software is part of the everyday technologies for both small and large businesses that can do more than you think. As inter-office communication, it helps to improve the small business workspace. For example, it has provided employees with a centralised gateway via which they can read and change internal papers and contracts, as well as rapidly relay relevant data to other departments. 

A social intranet can do so much more like combining the finest features of social networking platforms, team sites and portals. This is to create a space that allows for easy collaboration, self-generated content, communication freedom, and quick access to those outside your immediate sphere of influence.

Smartphones

No doubt that smartphones have made communication easier and faster. It has also served as a great aid for small businesses. Smart devices can handle every element of your organisation remotely. Everything from sales, content marketing, and customer interactions to back-end activities like shipping and invoicing is all at your fingertips. Let’s take sales for instance, right from your smartphone you can list items in your store on platforms like Jiji, Jumia and Konga.

The smartphones can handle accounting, project management, and payroll. There are several of apps to choose from that can perform these tasks. 

Drones

The innovative drone technology it’s popular for its use in capturing moments on a bigger scale. However, AI-focused startups are using drones to help businesses scale. Take Aerobotics for instance, the startup leverages AI to help farmers increase their yield and profitability. 

We’ve seen African health tech startups use drones to deliver drugs in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. This shows that the continent already has a framework it can leverage for drone delivery in the e-commerce industry.  

Customer Relationship Management 

Customer relationship management helps companies manage and analyse the customer life-cycle. But social CRM is taking customer management to the next level. It is the integration of the CRM platform with social media, providing real-time insights on how customers perceive a brand’s product. This way, businesses can build stronger relationships with both existing and prospective customers. 

Data Security 

Data security is important for both large and small businesses. This is a process of securing data from illegal access and data corruption. Data encryption, hashing, and key management are all data security strategies that safeguard data across all applications and platforms. 

Small businesses can use data security for lots of things besides securing information. This includes having audit trails that apply to anybody using your device, as well as data access points and all software and system admin modifications. 

It helps you make sure that your business is safe, keeping every server and storage hidden behind locked doors and out of sight. It also helps to defend your IT against cyber-attacks. 

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