Smart Growth: Developing Your Small Business Through Innovation

Innovation is critical to the success of any business, but that goes double for small and mid-sized ventures that may not have access yet to the same resources as larger enterprises. By utilizing disruptive technology and honing your business process management, it’s possible to supplant incumbent brands and emerge triumphant against the odds. Today, Cleartalking shares some tips to help your business grow from the bottom up.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing can significantly lower overhead costs by reducing the amount of hardware and software you need to maintain and update in-house. It also provides easy access to powerful tools and applications that can improve productivity and the efficiency of your operations. Get started with the right cloud solutions by identifying which tasks and processes can be moved off-site.

Big-Data Analysis

Data is becoming increasingly important in today’s corporate landscape. FinancesOnline notes that by analyzing large data sets, you can identify patterns and trends that will help you make better decisions about critical growth factors in your business. Look for software that provides easy-to-understand visualizations of your data so that you can quickly glean actionable insights.

Mobile Apps

More and more customers are conducting business on their devices, so it’s important to have a strong presence in this space. Mobile apps can improve customer engagement and loyalty while also providing an additional revenue stream. When choosing which app to develop, make sure it provides value to your target audience and is aligned with your business goals.

Invoicing

More than ever businesses are emailing invoices instead of sending them in the mail. When you email an invoice, your client will receive it quickly and can view it immediately. This increases the chance that your invoice will be paid on time and you’ll get your money faster. To make this a smooth process, look into customized invoices you can create with an invoice maker. The right tool will have design features that allow you to customize invoices specifically to your brand and will allow for easy sending once it’s ready to go.

Digital Marketing

With the right digital marketing strategy, you can reach a wide audience at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing methods. Methods like SEO optimization and social media management offer a number of ways to get your content in front of potential customers. Experiment with different tactics and track your results to see what works best for your business.

You can also benefit from having someone on your team who has a background in data analytics, since an ability to recognize and interpret data is essential if you want your business to be able to adapt rapidly to changes in the business environment. You might even want to fulfill this role yourself! And if you choose to take advantage of the flexibility of online learning platforms that lead to earning an online master’s in data science, you can proceed at your own pace, without having to take too much time away from your work. 

IT Services

Outsourcing your IT needs to a qualified service provider can save you time and money while also freeing up valuable internal resources. IT services can help you with a wide range of tasks, including developing custom applications and managing your network infrastructure. When selecting an IT service provider, be sure to consider their experience, reputation, and pricing. Most companies offer tiered packages that you can choose from according to your business requirements. 

Remote Work

Enabling employees to work remotely can improve work-life balance, reduce overhead costs, and make it easier to attract top talent. If you’re considering implementing a remote work policy, be sure to carefully consider the logistics and develop clear guidelines for employees so as not to compromise productivity.

Cyber Security

Technology can work wonders for your business, but it’s important to have digital security practices in place to keep your data and your customer’s information safe. Start with simple practices, like password protecting PDF documents. If you need to make changes to a PDF, a PDF editor allows you to make changes to documents and drawings without having to convert the file to another format. Simply upload the file online to make changes, then download and share. And when you use a convenient online tool this may help perform this function with ease and speed.

Online Time-Management Tools

Online time-management tools can help you optimize your workflow and get more done in less time. Project management software and task managers will boost productivity and get better results from your team. Make use of free trials on offer from various providers in different departments of your business to discern which yield the best results.

Implementation

The easiest way to find the right digital solutions for your business is by using business process management techniques. Start by mapping out your existing business processes and identifying which of these can be improved with the help of technology. Once you’ve implemented a few solutions, remember to monitor the results of your efforts so that you can fine-tune them as needed.

Lastly, when choosing a software or tool, it’s vital to consider the after-sales customer service. Don’t be afraid to reach out to support before finalizing your purchase in order to gauge the quality of assistance on offer. Oftentimes, good service is far more valuable than a low monthly fee.

Developing your business through innovation doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.  Look for the processes in your business that can be optimized without too much difficulty or interruption to productivity, such as cloud computing, seamless invoicing or time management tools. Soon you’ll be well on your way to reaping the rewards of a more efficient and effective operation.

See what other businesses are doing to innovate by joining your local Chamber of Commerce. You’ll not only learn from them, but obtain benefits for your business as well such as professional development, networking, visibility, and more.

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Numbers Game: Using Data Analytics for Strategization and Growth

If you’re a business operating in the digital space, data analytics represents an exciting opportunity to better understand your customers and your company and gain an edge over your competition. Whether you’re leveraging data for acquisition & retention, marketing, risk management, or something else entirely, with the right application you can maximize your company’s efficiency and pave the way for long-term success.

 

Acquisition and Retention

The role of data analytics is well established within the field of sales. Using a data-driven approach, your customer acquisition process can be assessed, refined, and even innovated upon. If you use a reliable, integrative CRM platform, it’s possible to manage your customer relationships and develop new leads autonomously and in sync with your data scientists.

 

Analytics is also essential when it comes to retaining the loyalty of existing customers as it provides predictive metrics of how they might react to new changes within your company, price fluctuations, portfolio diversification, and more. If you run a consultancy, data analytics may also be able to help clients to better understand their business and provide them with new insights and solutions.

 

Marketing

Within marketing, data analytics can be used to help us better understand our customers. With the right diagnostic analytics, we can establish highly accurate, comprehensive customer profiles that allow us to build more cost-efficient, effective campaigns. You can even use predictive methods to safely identify new demographics or even markets without having to commit resources.

 

Data can also play a huge role in the decision-making process when it comes to formulating new marketing campaigns. Rather than arguing over the hypotheticals of what worked or will work, solid numerical data can accurately diagnose the effectiveness of previous efforts and help prescribe the most mathematically justified decisions moving forward, this removes much of the human onus and hopefully improves ROI.

 

Risk Management

When it comes to security, data analytics can play an important role in helping you to identify potential risks within your decision-making process, assess impact, and put in process the contingencies for better mitigation and management. This is true from the c-suite level right down to cyber security operations – the numbers can always alert us to potential slips, hazards, and expenses ahead of time.

 

Product Development

The process of devising, prototyping, and introducing new products or services is often risky, especially since formulating new ideas could involve risking your limited capital. Data analytics can remove some of this risk by using existing data to predict future sales outcomes, gauge consumer demand and identify real-time market shifts, helping you to adapt to trends or spending patterns.

 

Internal Logistics

If you want to fine-tune your company’s efficiency, data analytics can play an important role. Tracking software can help you to identify misspent time and resources and build more efficient operations. This is especially true when it comes to business process management (BPM). With the right system, you can automate and optimize your workflow, analyzing how people, systems, and data interact. For this to work, you must regularly monitor your BPM’s effectiveness and act upon the data to refine your output.

 

In almost all facets of business, data can offer us insights, descriptions, and suggestions that would be otherwise unavailable. If you want to disrupt a market, outrun the competition, land bigger clients, or generally improve your business practice, it’s important to understand and embrace this crucial practice.

 

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