As a small business owner, it is up to you to make sure that your company is keeping up with the times and other businesses you’re in competition with. Unfortunately, this is something many entrepreneurs fail to do. Instead, they stick to what they know and what worked years ago, which often doesn’t work as well in the 21st century. If you want to remain successful and ensure that your company stays in business, you need to make a few changes. Here are five things that you can do to modernize your small business.
-
Invest In Social Media
We live in a time completely obsessed with social media. If something bad happens, we complain about it on Facebook or Twitter. If something good happens, we post pictures of it on Instagram and Snapchat. Because of this, it should be no surprise that consumers also pay attention to the social media accounts of small businesses. This means that it’s vital that you invest time and money into keeping yours up to date and looking professional.
-
Consider A Text Service
Texting is one of the easiest ways to talk to someone, so it’s important that you consider introducing this option for your customers, so that they can get ahold of you whenever they have a question or query. Rather than introduce a whole new system, you could simply use a landline texting service to save you time and money. These services often have the option to send automated replies to messages, so that customers won’t be waiting when you’re out-of-hours.
-
Create A Business App
These days, more than half the population owns a smartphone of one brand or another, which is why so many larger businesses have created apps so that customers can buy goods or chat to a member of the sales team easily from their phone. However, as popular as apps may be, many small businesses are yet to create one of their own. This means that this could be a great
opportunity for you to get ahead of the competition.
-
Optimize For Smaller Devices
Life is busy, which is why most people tend to use the internet through their phones or a tablet, rather than sitting down with a laptop or computer. Because of this, it’s important that your website is optimized for these smaller devices. If potential customers can’t view your site properly, they’ll simply move to one that they can, which means that you’ll lose out, and will continue to do so until the problem is fixed.
-
Look Into Software Solutions
Years ago, every small job in a business had to be completed by a physical person, whether that was the owner or an employee. However, this isn’t necessary these days. Instead, there are plenty of tools and software solutions out there for a number of different tasks, including drawing up contracts, running payroll, and ordering office supplies. Rather than waste your time and money, look into software solutions for various jobs and automate them instead.
Change is scary, but it’s also essential. Unless you keep up with the times, your business is going to be left behind, so make sure you consider the advice above and modernize your business.