When it comes to technology purchases, investments, and decisions, business owners have lots of questions. Why shouldn’t they? The majority of them are experts in profitability, or their industries, but not IT. It’s only natural that they’ll want to know about things like cost, compatibility, and upgrades.
With all of that being said, though, there is an IT question we wish business owners would ask more often: “Does this purchase or process actually impact my bottom line?”
At the end of the day – you get past terabytes, chip speeds, and waterproofed mobile devices – isn’t that what it’s all about? Shouldn’t you be investing in new technology that’s going to help you to make more money or get more things done?
Because we think anything you buy for your company that costs a substantial amount of money should move the needle in terms of improvement or performance, let’s look at a few ways that a tech purchase might impact your business…
Financial Savings
The easiest way for a piece of tech to improve your business is by saving you money. For example, some pieces of software can help you eliminate staff hours or lower expenses on things like training. If you think you can save money with the purchase, and have documentation or guarantees to back it up, it could be an easy call.
Time Efficiency
In some situations, saving time is just as valuable, or even more valuable, then saving money. This is one of the biggest and most common benefits to upgrading the tech you use in your company. Look around and you can likely save yourself dozens of hours every month with smart integrations and automation tools.
New Business Opportunities
There are some business opportunities you can only take advantage of with the right technology. An easy example would be ecommerce, which requires an online shopping cart system, secure connections, and other web-based tools. You might have several ways to grow your business if you had the right software or equipment, so evaluate those purchases carefully.
Liability Reduction
Managing risk is part of any business, but you can use technology to keep yourself better covered. For example, in some industries it makes sense to make encrypted copies of backup files, or to use automated checklists that ensure you comply with important governmental regulations. In those situations, the eventual savings from implementing new technology can be enormous.
Customer Prestige
Sometimes a piece of technology can be worth the expense if it helps you to impress customers. These benefits can be harder to trace back to the bottom line, but they generally increase repeat sales or generate positive buzz in your target market. Just don’t go overboard with these investments if you aren’t sure where the ROI will come from.
What to Do When Your Tech Isn’t Working for Your Business
We sometimes meet with business owners who have technology that’s functional, but not necessarily working for the goals they’ve set. If that sounds like the kind of situation you are facing, we can help. That’s because we work one-on-one with our clients to help establish measurable targets, realistic budgets, and workflows that increase productivity while reducing stress.
If that sounds like the kind of service you want from an outsourced technology vendor contact the Los Angeles-based team at Fantastic IT today.