The Global financial crisis has truly affected the economic landscape. Many businesses have either trimmed down their service or even completely shuttered their operations. While seemingly bleak, this also means that previously saturated markets are now opening. As such, this may be a good opportunity for entrepreneurs to engage in their own small business.
A small business venture in a down economy is ideal because of the lower cost that it entails as compared to starting a big business. This becomes especially true when one factors in the benefits that technology can provide in increasing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of a business
Here are ways where technology can help your small business:
- VoIP solutions – One of the bigger costs involved in setting up a business is communications. Communications both mean telephony and internet connections. Before, an owner would have to pay separate fees for both, with different costs and rising prices for each. With the help of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), the owner can unify these expenses and even reap the benefits of cheaper calls.
- Outsourcing – The higher speeds of Internet connections nowadays, means that outsourcing work is not as difficult as before. With labor cheaper in other places of the world, connecting with them through various online means, chat clients, email, and desktop sharing to name a few is now easier than before.
- Advertising/ Marketing – The emergence of social networking sites, search engine marketing, and other internet marketing avenues have shortened the gap between advertising for large and small businesses. While not totally overtaking large companies, small businesses can still show their presence to a wider range of clients thanks to the internet.
With the help of these things, day to day operations of the business becomes much easier to handle and much more inexpensive than the usual.
