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Understanding the Role of Technology in Growing Your Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Growing Your Business|Understanding the Role of Technology in Growing Your BusinessThe world of business is becoming ever more competitive, resulting in business owners scrambling to find ways in which to stand out, streamline operations, and hold onto the best talent. The secret to ticking all of these boxes and optimizing the potential for business growth lies in investing in the right technology. Read on for the details.

Finances

Financial management is arguably the most vital operational aspect of any establishment. Without ensuring that you are making a solid profit and that your staff members are paid on time, the business, as you know it, will quickly cease to exist. So, what type of technology is necessary to ensure that financial administration is properly taken care of from month to month?

The bare minimum is a high-quality accounting and payroll system. Software designers create these systems to fully automate various aspects of financial management, such as paying your employees and putting together reports.

Marketing

A great marketing strategy plays a key role in setting a business up for success. It generates brand awareness, consumer loyalty, and, of course, assists in maximizing conversions to boost that all-important bottom line. The right marketing technology can help a business to reach its full potential. Good examples of marketing software and technology include:

  • Analytics
  • Conversion optimization tools
  • Email marketing software
  • Remarketing software
  • SEO tools

Marketing automation solutions

Considering how diverse the marketing technology offering has become in recent times, it pays to consult with an IT and technology consultant company for advice, like oramca.com, to figure out which solutions are right for your enterprise.

Customer service

Marketing campaigns and customer service work hand in hand when it comes to nurturing the growth of any business. Ultimately, it does not matter how mind-blowing your marketing campaigns are, if your approach to customer service is lacking, your company reputation and turnover will suffer as a result. If your customer service is world-class, but your marketing efforts are falling short, you won’t have any customers to assist or impress in the first place!

From a technology perspective, you cannot go wrong with a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solution. Most good quality CRM systems allow for effortless lead and contact management, tracking of consumer interactions, quotes management, and email integration.

Human Resources

Your employees are your most valuable resource, hence the reason why it makes the world of difference when you put in extra effort into the hiring process and into keeping your existing staff happy. The best HR technology solutions boast features like employee information management, hiring and recruitment automation, benefits management, time and attendance management, professional development, and more.

Inventory management

It can become challenging to effectively monitor your available stock as your business grows, and product demand gradually increases. Doing so manually can lead to costly errors and disappointed customers. Luckily, inventory management software promises incredible features and benefits that are sure to solve these problems instantly. The great news is that there are different types of customizable software available for enterprises of all types and sizes.

If consistent business growth is the goal, advanced technology is the answer. Do not delay in finding the right solutions for your establishment!

Small Business Inventory Management 101

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Small Business Management|Small Business Inventory Management 101It is important to evaluate your small business on a pretty regular basis, to ensure that you are on track to business success and keeping things within your budget. And one of the most integral parts of your small business will be your inventory management. If this isn’t done well, then it can impact the whole of the business. So think about how your small business’s inventory management has panned out? Do you have the right products that are available when you need them? When things are out of stock, have you been losing a lot of money? Likewise, have you lost money because of excess stock?

With all of this in mind, here are some things to think about and what to look for when it comes to making the whole thing easier. So here are some of the best practices that can help you to keep track of your stock. Some good inventory management software should:

  • Help to reduce costs, improve your cash flow, and do what it can to boost the bottom line
  • You can track your inventory in real time
  • You should be able to help you to forecast demand of stock
  • You can prevent product and even production shortages, which can help to save money
  • You can prevent having excess stock and having too many raw materials in stock
  • The software should be accessible right from your POS (point of sale) system
  • You could optimise warehouse organisation, as well as employee time which can be so precious and does impact costs

Storage and Inventory Management

One of the things that you need to plan and think about is how you are storing all of your inventory. You need to think about the practical level of storage, and what will be put where. For example, the popular items are going to be better if they are more accessible, and the special items that need to be kept from damage, should be in a place that isn’t a high-traffic area. You could also think about looking into steel building kits if you need extra space, or are going to be working from home and need some extra inventory stored close to where you are.

Audit Your Stock

Even with a good inventory management software, then from time to time, you will need to count your inventory to make sure that you have different stock in and what you have in matches what your records think you have in. Small businesses do use different techniques, as there could be an annual check, as well as monthly, and perhaps single item checks and spot-checking on things. And on that note, don’t forget to ensure that your company is fully compliant, which you can check and monitor by implementing this internal audit software.

Remember Your ABCs

There are many businesses that find it helpful to have some tighter inventory management, particularly over any higher-value items. This can be done by grouping items into either A, B and C. Items classified as A are your big ticket items that make up the smallest percentage of your inventory, but they have the largest consumption value. The items grouped into C, are the things that are the least expensive, but they make up a larger percentage of inventory, and as a result, have the lowest consumption value each year. Any items in the B category are the items that are in-between.