You cannot say that you don't need technology to run your business. This is an unacceptable answer these days, regardless of the niche you operate in. It is a solid fact that, whatever you are doing, technology can make it faster and easier. On top of that, it is advancing so fast that even those who are really making an effort to always have the freshest tools for their business - even they have a hard time keeping up with all the changes. This makes it even harder for me to understand how some people can say that technology is either unreliable or unimportant for doing business. Just imagine how obsolete they are compared to their competitors.
Of course, there will always be people who don't really understand what fresh hardware and software can do to help them run their business and get better results, since they never used these things and they feel that the potential benefits are not worth the hustle. They couldn’t be more wrong but it is understandable - all things considered.
Management and communication
Following your progress and being informed about every project you are currently handling can be difficult, especially if you are getting all your updates on paper. Handling a whirlwind of papers and making sure that it is all orderly and neatly sorted is nothing less than a fulltime job. Also making sure that everyone understands their duties is sometimes a problem and this can cause a lot of complications when a certain communication misunderstanding occurs. All this can be avoided by providing your company with some form of project management software along with the proper equipment to use it. This way, all tasks can be assigned to people who are supposed to handle them, any misunderstandings can be resolved instantly, individual task progress and project milestones can instantly be updated and overall, there will be a greater insight into everyone's work and the successfulness of the entire company. Another thing that I have to mention is the aspect of free (or almost free) communication, regardless of the distance.
Business opportunities and information gathering
Online business is in full swing and it hasn’t even reached its final form yet. The more you wait to get in on it, the more difficult it will be for you to adapt later. People are starting to organize their companies on an international level, on opposite parts of the globe even, in order to avoid losing leads. I'm not even talking about big companies; I'm referring to medium-to-small businesses which had no real start up cash and who started doing things from scratch. Working hours basically never end and if you are capable enough, you can make more just by being present on the Web.
The most successful businesses rely a whole lot on the data they base their decisions on. Gathering data "on foot" is a long and expensive process, regardless of the type of data you are gathering. Whether it is market research, current trends, target groups analysis or something else entirely, it is far more budget friendly and less time consuming to do it online.
Who has the time to change?
Training and adapting to technology is not as hard as it might seem. The advances in user interface designs and the fact that every piece of software is localized for all major languages - all this makes things a lot easier and it significantly shortens the learning curve. As far as data is concerned, a lot of people may be worried that digitizing all the documentation and information they need would take a lot of time and that it would cost a lot of money, but this is a process - not a problem these days. It is also very much worth the effort, since you can find and access the data you need, no matter how old it is, within seconds and share it with as many people as you want, as fast as you want.
Sure, getting all the necessary equipment and software can be costly, but in the long run, it is worth it. Essentially, it makes the difference between going under as an obsolete and ineffective business or going big and keeping the pace with the rest of the world.
