Owning a small business offers several advantages: your team can react faster to shifting customer demands, you can make quicker decisions with less red tape, and you can grow your business in niche markets, to name a few. However, growth requires productivity, and a recent study showed that micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are only 47% as productive as big businesses. One potential reason? A technology gap.
According to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce report, 84% of small businesses believe that technology platforms help their businesses operate more efficiently. And small businesses that leverage technology platforms are more likely to experience sales, profit, and workforce growth.
While your small business may not have the same budget and resources as larger companies, you can make smart, low-risk tech investments that have the potential to significantly increase your productivity and your return on investment (ROI). Let’s dive into five key focus areas that can make a big difference.
#1 Automate Time-Intensive Workflows
Small business owners lose one hour and thirty-six minutes per day (or three workweeks per year) to unproductive tasks. To regain this lost time, identify your most repetitive, time-consuming tasks. Are there software features you’re not leveraging that can help you speed up your processes? A cloud-based tool you can buy or subscribe to?
Your solution doesn’t have to be complex or expensive. It could be as simple as scheduling your social media posts ahead of time, setting up automated bill pay services, or even adding a scheduling link to your email signature.
Maybe your team’s getting bogged down answering customer questions. You could use a chatbot or form on your website as a first line of customer support and set up automatic routing to the right team members.
And now with generative AI widely available, 40% of small businesses have adopted it (as of 2024). Many use it for more efficient marketing, analyzing customer data, and communicating with customers. If you’re not already leveraging AI, begin exploring how you can tap free or low-cost apps to help streamline your business workflows.
#2 Improve Your Internet Connection
To maintain or boost your productivity, you need a reliable, fast internet connection. It powers every part of your business operations — from your Wi-Fi to your communications platforms to your point of sale (POS) system. Is your internet slow or unreliable? You’re likely wasting valuable time searching for files, experiencing slower payment processing, waiting for uploads, contending with poor or interrupted video calls, and likely seeing the impacts of costly downtime.
Fiber internet is the most advanced option available today. It gives you the speed, latency, reliability, scalability, and security you need to keep your business operating at peak performance. While the core technology behind fiber internet is the same across providers, each offers various speed options and levels of support.
For instance, as a Bluepeak Business fiber internet customer, you’ll enjoy speeds up to 10 Gbps and unlimited data with no caps, so you can operate your business without worrying about limitations. And you get friendly, local service from people in your community. Plus, we build, operate, and own our fiber-optic network, so you know your data and voice information are secure.
#3 Protect Your Business from Cyberthreats
Cyberattacks can take your network offline, resulting in costly downtime and productivity loss. And small businesses aren’t immune. A recent Microsoft and Bredin study of 2,000 SMBs in the US and UK found that one in three have experienced a cyberattack.
Beyond educating your employees about avoiding widespread phishing attacks, you need to secure your network and connected devices. Using firewalls can protect your ingoing and outgoing data, encrypting your Wi-Fi network can prevent unauthorized access, and setting up safe password policies that include multi-factor authentication (MFA) decreases the likelihood of unwanted access.
Another key way to protect your business is with a mesh Wi-Fi system like eero for Business. It not only keeps your devices seamlessly connected throughout your business location and includes a backup hotspot, it also offers guest Wi-Fi networks, automatic updates, and features tailored to your business — and you can use it without needing an IT professional onsite or on staff.
You can also opt for an eero Secure subscription that protects your devices from online threats, ads, and content that you, or your customers and guests, don’t want to see. Bluepeak Business fiber internet products include eero for Business to keep your network running for maximum productivity and security.
#4 Connect Your Employees With a Unified Communications Platform
Your business productivity is at its peak when your employees and customers can communicate effectively and efficiently. If you’re still using traditional landline-based telephone services, consider switching to a hosted voice platform.
Hosted voice is a cloud-based solution that seamlessly integrates calls, video conferencing, instant messaging, and other essential communication tools into a single, unified system, ensuring your teams can collaborate seamlessly, whether they’re video conferencing on a project, quickly chatting with colleagues, or sharing files.
You don’t have to juggle multiple apps and subscriptions with a hosted voice solution. It reduces administrative overhead and boosts overall productivity. Plus, integrating with other crucial business tools like your calendaring system further enhances organizational visibility and efficiency.
When you opt for Bluepeak Business Hosted Voice, we make it easy to get started. We help you design a customized system for your processes and workflows with minimal up-front costs (and no capital costs). And we offer on-site installation of your new phones and training to ensure you and your employees have everything needed to move forward successfully, without downtime or an increased burden on your IT provider.
#5 Backup Your Critical Data
Your small business runs on data. Losing it can directly impact your bottom line through lost productivity and recovery costs. That’s why smart small business owners prioritize regular file backups. Common issues like power failures, hardware malfunctions, and cyberattacks can all lead to data wipeouts. Consider investing in technology that automatically backs up your files – locally, in the cloud, or ideally, both.
The term “file backup” implies that you should only protect your business files. However, broaden your focus to include your databases, email, SaaS data, and more. The more business information you recover after a loss, the faster you recover.
Before selecting a file backup solution, ensure you understand your business’s data landscape and what files and information are critical to your operations. The solution you choose will depend on your business’s unique needs. And after you have a file backup system in place, regularly audit your data to ensure there aren’t any gaps in your processes.
Your Technology, Your Way
The ever-expanding world of productivity tools can be overwhelming. By consistently prioritizing a reliable internet connection, seamless communication, efficient workflows, and secure, backed-up data, you’ll have an essential framework for making smart technology choices that drive your small-business success.
If you want to learn how Bluepeak Business solutions can help you improve your productivity, visit https://mybluepeak.com/business/home/.
