Technology as we all know, is moving fast at lightning speed with every passing day. This makes it all the more important for modern businesses to be on the lookout for new emerging trends to stay competitive against big companies. We bring to you all the significant developments and technology trends in business and how they can make an enormous difference. 

This technology change puts tremendous pressure on small businesses to keep up with everything going around them. Small businesses in such a scenario surely require adapting quickly to all these changes. In fact it requires a thorough implementation of all these changes so that it can make an eventful, visible and positive impact on their overall sales and revenue.

Virtual Reality 

Virtual Reality has been gaining steam lately and small businesses can leverage this in a big way for using them to showcase their products live or in real time. This trend needs to be monitored. It is being said that in a few years from now, customers will be able to view products and even try them out before they buy them.

This will have a major impact on small businesses and the way they introduce and promote their new products. Virtual Reality also gives an opportunity for businesses to strategize the way they engage with and what all they present to their customers. 

Businesses are emerging to provide ready-made services through Virtual Reality. The development of VR across various industries including therapeutic services, entertainment and public training systems all are going to benefit in the long run.

Working Remotely

There has been so much advancement in communication via technology that the future of companies lies in letting its employees work remotely to bring the best talent from all over the world to their table. This also helps in incurring savings in the outsourcing process.

Employers who work remotely mean more cash flow for the company, thereby increasing a company’s productivity. One of the major reason of this positive development is the decease in overhead expenses such as a physical office.

Since employees do have the freedom to work according to their own pace, great results are achieved. Inspite of the fact that employees are seated miles apart, the skill sets required are of the same level as traditional managers for managing the set-up and professional relation among themselves.

Digital Currency

Cryptocurrency which is an application of Blockchains has humongous benefits – speed, accuracy and full control. Cryptocurrency is stored on a network of computers known as bitcoin. One of the easiest ways to get started is by making use of digital currency payments such as bitpay in exchange of selling your products or services.

The technology associated with this is bound to have a big impact on businesses of all types especially small businesses. Few advantages also include high transaction speed, no processing fee and more payment options for customers.

Cloud Based Technology

SaaS, or Software as a service – this term has been used since long but has not still been utilized fully. It’s been around for so long, though. This is true for small to medium businesses. One of the tools which is in the infancy stage is the cloud based phone system. Making use of economical solutions for small businesses and paying only for the stipulated server load you need is the way to go when using cloud based technology.

The days of paying for big local server spaces are gone. So are the days of emailing bulky docs to each other. These are replaced by cloud based office documentation. Locating independent office spaces, Better connectivity, remote access and providing excellent customer service makes it all worth the effort.

Your team can also connect with each other irrespective of wherever they work. Cloud based data storage helps solve the challenge of small businesses add security while enabling companies to decrease relying on physical infrastructure or manual backups. 

Small business usually face huge challenges of managing it’s data which they collect from online customers. If you have the right info, you will be able to target customers with more accuracy and cut down on the costs associated with it. Customers have trusted you and that is the reason they divulge significant info online in your hands.

Internet of Things

 

The Internet of Things was a huge development which bridged the gap between specialized sensors and real world objects. You must have heard about the latest technology techniques which makes it possible to get in control of your home, cars and even offices.

Everyone is aware about the advantages of smart homes, smart offices and security alarms which are highly intelligent. All the devices based on the Internet of Things technology makes it possible to view this information real-time. This reduces the overall operational cost and is quite valuable for making investments. 

In fact, small businesses have not been fast at adopting Internet of Things (IoT) mainly due to the high cost and complex process associated with it. However, that’s changing as sensor prices are plummeting as technology is progressing by each passing day.

Artificial Intelligence

The focus right now is on the combined impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) which is changing the way work is being done. Though this is merely a beginning, more and more software applications will ultimately switch to this technology.

All of AI includes robots and drones which fall under the “physical devices” category. Virtual personal assistants are glaring examples of super intelligent software designed for convenience of consumers such as Apple’s Siri & Amazon’s Alexa. It is expected very soon, as little as 2-3 years that almost every software and application will also contain a certain level of Artificial Intelligence.

More Artificial Intelligence needs to be integrated into back end systems which will be able to help provide retailers with live or real time suggestions and advice based on present scenario of the sales data.

3D Printing

Another term for ‘3D Printing’ is Additive Manufacturing. 3D Printing basically uses advanced 3D modeling software for creating items by printing layer by layer and continuing doing that till the software model gets ultimately converted into a physical product.

While mass adoption by the majority of businesses is still away, it is expected to gain traction and investigate while planning for the future. In a major survey done recently, it was found that more than 50% of small businesses wanted to full adopt 3D printing within the next one or two years.

ChatBot Technology

ChatBot is basically a computer program or a software which can be installed and hence incorporated on any website in this world and are being extensively used by companies to provide 24/7 customer support to their clients.

This makes it a superior product for improving upon the productivity and to provide state-of-the art customer service. Getting a response quickly to their queries is something which customers appreciate and this has become possible by using chartbot technology by businesses of all types. 

Machine Learning

Small businesses can benefit enormously with incorporating machine learning in it’s accounting software. In fact these developments will expedite accurate coding as well as fulfilling data extraction while making the entire complex time consuming process absolutely automated.

This can have magnanimous results associated with financial management and financial reporting. In this way small businesses can enormously benefit and make informed business decisions. The banking industry has also started using machine learning.

 Conclusion

All of the technological trends in business world described in detail here are emerging and others have already begun their journey and are moving fast towards changing the way small businesses across the world function.  

There is no doubt that businesses will be affected by these advancements in technology and their combined impact cannot be ignored if they want to grow and survive in this competitive market.

It is highly recommended that leaders involved in small businesses should come forward and work these trends into their strategies so that they can thrive and prosper. The pace of evolution is growing tremendously and the business leadership should also grow at the same pace.  Get a head start on the coming year and decide for yourself all those technology innovations which work best for you.