Written by: Mr Mayank Maitreya, Chief Executive Officer at Aapai Technologies
Life seems impossible without technology nowadays. Technology is changing the way we work, live and interact with the world today. From smartphones to cloud computing to AI, technology continues to amaze us by making our lives easier, convenient and worry-free. In an age where technology is revolutionizing every aspect of our lives, as a business, it’s the right time to invest in technologies that simplifies work and provide better results without burning a hole in the pocket. Here we look at some of the emerging technologies that small businesses must invest in.
Digital Payment Methods
Across every industry, payment processing happens to be an important business function. Digital payment methods like mobile banking, internet banking, mobile wallets, banking cards and UPI turn out to be much faster than manual payment methods and helpbusinesses to save a significant amount of time and money.
Digital payments and cards are almost three times more cost-effective on average than traditional purchase order process costs because of less manual intervention and reconciliation effort. As people increasingly turn towards smart digital payment choices, small businesses need to be more flexible with their digital payment choices. This leads to better customer experiences and delivers a competitive advantage to a business.
Artificial Intelligence
Initially affordable only to large organisations, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gradually beginning to find its place in small businesses and start-ups as well. A survey involving 1,467 CEOs from mid-sized and small businesses revealed that out of all the current technologies, AI created the maximum impact for their businesses. This is quite unsurprising as AI is capable of outperforming humans in several ways including the ability to handle huge volumes of data, identify significant patterns that are opaque to humans and help understand customer requirements to identify complex problems.
Artificial intelligence supports us by reducing manual work and increasing productivity. For instance, product tagging when done manually takes a huge amount of time. However, AI tools can do it in little time without much effort.In that sense, it is vital for small businesses to invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Customer Relationship Management
Irrespective of the type, the success of every business depends on customers. Generating leads and converting them into loyal customers is what drives profit. A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool is an important requirement for businesses looking to manage their relationship with existing clients and potential leads. According to a survey by Salesforce, businesses switching to CRM’s witnessed an increase in sales by 29 per cent and productivity by 34 per cent.
A CRM is an effective tool that can be used to enhance lead conversion, improve usage growth as well as decrease marketing costs. For small to medium-sized businesses there are plenty of options to choose from depending on the business type and size.
HR Technology
Employees are the biggest asset of an organisation and small businesses need to focus on creating the best-in-class human resource management to engage employees in different ways and streamline certain practices. HR technology can play an important role in on-boarding, performance appraisals and off-boarding employees, tracking leaves and off-time…All of this can offer immense benefit to companies, making HR processes more streamlined.
One of the primary functions of HR is to find new talent. HR technology is helping to streamline the entire process of recruitment by using artificial intelligence and machine learning to find the right talent for the role. Even the smallest of businesses can use HR tech to not only reach out to a wider audience but process applications much faster.
Final Words
Small businesses have to constantly juggle between different tasks, from accounting to management to human resources. The technologies mentioned here can turn out to be a big boon for businesses by simplifying numerous tasks and helping them stay on top of the game.