Thanks to technological advancements, we can break new barriers. The business world is no longer even close to how it looked a decade ago — there are new rules and challenges that entrepreneurs have to deal with.
A software development company like MLSDev has been present on the market for more than 10 years and in this article, we’ll cover the most critical changes caused by the emergence of new technological solutions.
Social media
Let’s start with a tool that almost all of us use every single day — social media. Thanks to the development of social media platforms (like Facebook or Twitter), we can establish relationships with our clients more efficiently than ever.
Potential customers can test our competence by sending a few messages and checking other customers’ reviews on one of these social media platforms. These days, your business simply has to be on social media. According to data provided by Statista, in 2019, about 90% of young adults in the United States already have a profile on social media… and that was before TikTok’s popularity exploded!
Task automation
More and more task automation options allow us to save time and focus on more important things. Just the fact that instead of sitting in the kitchen washing dishes after lunch, you can throw them in the dishwasher will save you hundreds of hours over the next few years. The same with vacuum cleaners like iRobot’s Roomba; these days, we can devote our household chores to machines bought once.
But automating tasks for household chores is only part of the boon of technological advancement. We are subconsciously automating tasks in our daily work! We “delegate” the scanning of important documents to programs that check things like spelling, grammar, and style. The same with gathering statistics — we have software for that, and our analysts take care of the challenges that a machine cannot handle (although such tasks are becoming fewer and fewer).
Fast deliveries
Can you even imagine getting a product you ordered today later than tomorrow? A few years ago, “fast delivery” was the same week as we placed the order (excluding business days, of course). We had to accept that we would not have access to our order for a few days. And what does it look like now? Well, according to statistics provided by fulfillment service, 97% of customers consider “fast delivery” to be same-day delivery.
Besides instant deliveries, you have multiple options for picking up your order and can track its location. Whenever you need anything for your business, it will take just a few clicks, and you’ll have it without leaving your office.
Accessible education
The development of technology and its availability is also the development of education. You can now learn anything on the internet. Back then, to get specialized knowledge, it was common to leave the city or even the country. And today?
You can just open up one of your electronic devices (like PC, tablet or smartphone) and learn new things without leaving your room! Moreover, this learning method is much cheaper; most of the time, it will be virtually free. Even if you decide to spend money on some online course, you can easily compare it with others by checking the opinions of previous students.
Running a successful business comes with the responsibility of constant education, but now you can do it anywhere. You can listen to educational podcasts and courses on your way to work or walks instead of adding extra work hours to your schedule.
E-commerce
We also couldn’t forget about the development of eCommerce, which is currently the most growing form of sales. Looking at data provided by Statista.com, the eCommerce market will be worth over $6 billion in 2024. The growth of the eCommerce market has proven to be an opportunity for many businesses that could not afford to open a physical store… and as it turns out, this way of selling seems to be winning over traditional stores.
According to OuterBox, 79% of all customers order through their mobile devices. That said, you need to be online with your products. You don’t need to have your own website for that; you can use tools like Facebook Marketplace, Amazon, or eBay. Sporadically, you don’t even need to have a magazine for your products, and you don’t need as many employees to do it as you usually would — it’s a cheap way of doing a business.
Working from home
Working from our bedroom in pajamas seemed utopian just a few years ago. However, with the current advancements in technology and easy access to it, there is no problem with that! Of course, you can’t do every job remotely, but this is still a great option, especially for smaller businesses.
Thanks to technological development, which has enabled fast delivery of products and accessible communication regardless of where we are, working from home gets more common every year. As a result, launching a business and creating a company is easier and more accessible to everyone than ever.
Independent workers
The technology development has also allowed for the emergence of so-called “Freelancers”. This is a great option for entrepreneurs who don’t want to hire a full-time employee but still need someone with specific skills to do something for you. What’s nice about this is that you can hire people from different parts of the world and often have the work done for less than you would normally pay.
Here we come to another point of the advantages of technological development — the ease of monetizing your skills. If you have a skill that you can use to develop someone else’s business, you’ll make money without much trouble. Even if you have a full-time job but have some skill that someone would like to pay $10 a day for, that’s still going to be an extra $300 every month for you!
Smartphones
Finally, a device that plays a big part in our everyday lives. Smartphones allow us to enjoy all the benefits of technological development mentioned above and many more. You no longer need to be in the office to contact a client or delegate a task to an employee, and you might as well do it from under the palm tree on your vacation.
Besides, the camera and microphone in the smartphone are often good enough to record a budget ad or post on social media. We can also use them to scan documents or even fill out invoices. Smartphones are becoming more and more advanced every year. Just look at what the standards were just 2-3 years ago and what they are now.
Closing Thoughts
We do not doubt that technology will continue to evolve, and when running a business, there will be no other option but to adapt to it.