“There is no alternative to digital transformation. Visionary companies will carve out new strategic options for themselves—those that don’t adapt will fail.”- Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon Inc. Tech innovations ruling the business sector.
In the current era, digital transformation is no longer a choice for businesses, but a necessity. For most companies, it sets the stage for an increase in productivity. Moreover, it helps them stay competitive in a densely populated market. For some, it is crucial to match the ever-evolving regulatory standards of the industry. No matter how much innovation costs, businesses are willing to spend on it.
But digital initiatives are no longer confined to only the established enterprises; rather, they are the first thing new entrepreneurs bear in mind while entering the business landscape. In fact, startups are taking the lead when it comes to embracing new technologies.
According to IDG research, 89% of organisations have either already adopted, or have plans to adopt a digital-first strategy.
While it puts them in a vantage position, entrepreneurs need to be selective about the technologies they pick. It is vital to select those that give your startup a competitive advantage and makes your team productive while keeping pace with industry trends. At the same time, you need to make sure that the technology you adopt does not burn a hole in your wallet. Here are the ones that have real potential for entrepreneurs.
Cloud-Based Solutions
LogicMonitor’s survey predicted that 83% of enterprise workloads would be in the cloud by 2020, but this was escalated further with the pandemic shifting operations to a remote space. Businesses had to make a quick beeline for cloud-based solutions in order to maintain continuity. This technology will get even more crucial hereon as the world enters the post-pandemic era, and remote work becomes a norm.
Cloud-based solutions, such as contact centre software, free phone number, etc. pack speed, scalability, and flexibility, which are critical for businesses of all sizes, including startups. Moreover, these solutions are also cost-effective because they save the business from massive infrastructural costs and also eliminate the need for a dedicated IT team. At the same time, they provide them with the functionalities they require. Entrepreneurs who want to build digital businesses right from the start cannot miss this technology.
Digital Workplace
While the cloud is the best place to start when it comes to enterprise technologies in the digital world, you cannot forget to build a digital workplace as well. Employees prefer to work with organisations that provide digital tools for increasing productivity, regardless of their location. That’s exactly what digital workplaces are all about. Once again, the pandemic has fuelled the need for such tools that let people connect, collaborate, and operate from afar.
You will need to invest in the latest communication tools along with ones that let teams manage projects and processes, and share ideas on a common platform. The objective is to bring everyone in one environment, whether they work together in the office or from their homes.
Digital Marketing Tool
If you aspire to build a digital business, you cannot forget digital marketing tools and techniques! New-age entrepreneurs understand the value of the internet as an outreach channel. Modern digital marketing techniques such as SEO (search engine optimisation), PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns, email campaigns, and social media platforms should be on top of your digital transformation checklist.
Whether you are a startup or want to take your established business on this futuristic journey, embracing these techniques won’t cost you a fortune.
You may even do it without hiring a specialist agency because tools like HootSuite and Mailchimp can help you schedule social media marketing and email automation respectively. Moreover, there are reliable analytical tools that you can use to monitor and fine-tune campaigns and maximise ROI.
CRM software
Another technology that forward-thinking entrepreneurs cannot afford to overlook is customer relationship management (CRM) software. Since the customer is the mainstay of the business, this is one aspect that you need to go the extra mile with.
CRM tools help streamline customer interactions and build long-term relationships with better satisfaction rates.
Additionally, this software empowers your company by collecting information about potential and existing customers. Your sales team has a reliable database that it can leverage to convert leads, while the customer support team can utilise it to improve customer satisfaction and retention metrics. In a nutshell, you have a tool that helps your business significantly strengthen its market position with happy customers on board.
Automation
Automation makes an incredible investment for startups and big enterprises alike, so they don’t deserve to be missed by new-age entrepreneurs. They can help you put mundane and repetitive tasks on auto-pilot while you focus on the ones that are growth-critical. Not to forget, the time you save every day by leaving things to a virtual assistant that is capable of doing it all!
There are automation tools for a range of business processes, from HR to finance, marketing, IT, procurement, and more. As a rule, anything that doesn’t require human intelligence can be left to automation.
However, the future looks bright as automation will be coupled with machine learning and artificial intelligence to create applications that will be able to handle critical tasks as well.
Machine-Driven Data Monitoring
As data is the fuel for digital enterprises, machine-driven data analytics is another tech trend that is emerging in the business landscape. Entrepreneurs have options in tools that can collect data, analyse it, and provide actionable insights to drive better business decisions.
For example, you can choose the tools that help you understand your customers better or know more about the efficiency of your processes.
Once you know the nitty-gritty of core operations, you can make significant changes to your enterprise and witness better efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Machine-learning tools monitor data trends and even trigger proactive alerts when things aren’t going in the right direction. So, you have a system that turns data and numbers into meaningful information you can use to empower your business.
Digital Privacy
For an entrepreneur who has a lot to manage, digital privacy often takes a backseat. But it isn’t something you can afford to overlook in the era of growing cyber threats and hacking attacks. Whether it is the confidential data of your business or the customers, you have to make sure that it is protected at all times.
Nowadays, users are more concerned and aware of how businesses are using their data. Moreover, the enforcement of data security regulations has made digital privacy a big conversation. Entrepreneurs who fail to address digital privacy concerns can get into trouble with the law and also lose the trust of their customers. So, data privacy technologies should definitely be a part of your wish list.
A Final word
As digital disruption becomes a norm, entrepreneurs cannot afford to miss out on these technologies. They have massive potential for driving business growth and also keep your enterprise ahead of the competition.
The best approach is to look for a technology partner that can guide you about picking the right tools and technologies and implementing them as well. Also, remember that building a digital business is not a one-time initiative, rather an ongoing process. Just make sure that you know the latest tech trends and onboard the innovative ones as they come.
