3 Ways To Keep Your Business Fresh and Flexible

Live wood isn't like the wood for a fire. It's green, flexible and full of life. In business, you always want your business to be like live wood, able to bend instead of break, ready to grow, able to overcome or incorporate challenges or barriers. Whether your small business is just starting out or you've been around for years, there's no better time than the present to embrace technological changes that allow you to bring your products to new markets, free you from the office and generally keep you flexible and growing. Here are three ways technology can help you meet those goals.

1. Move to Software-as-a-Service Applications

If you're still using disks to install software, you're locking yourself to a specific machine and increasingly rare tools to be able to transfer information to third parties. You may be thinking, "what is SaaS?" but you are likely already using it for some things. SaaS allows application code and your specific data to live on the cloud, allowing you to access it from anywhere. Consider going from installed versions of Microsoft Office to its subscription service, or using an analog of their classic programs. Even move your business accounting to a subscription. 

A subscription may seem like an extra cost that never goes away unlike the one-time purchase of software, but there are significant benefits to a subscription. First, of course, is that you can access your information from anywhere and work collaboratively. Have two or three people work in the same Google Doc to make agreed-upon changes in real-time. Ask your accountant to check your books without the need to deliver a drive. Beyond that, with a subscription, you're paying to always have the latest version of the software without installing updates and patches. These companies also ensure that your data is encrypted and hidden behind the strongest firewalls and antivirus software. Be ready to do business anytime and anywhere with SaaS.

2. There's an App for That

The cloud and the app market aren't just for your core business needs. Think about the areas where you could really use help, and chances are there's an app for that. Help others meet with you without scheduling conflicts. Apps like Calendly make it easy for clients and partners to find your calendar and write themselves in at available times. If you have trouble focusing, there are hundreds of apps to help you out. Look at a Pomodoro app that will show the time you need to focus until your next break. Apps like Freedom are social media blockers that you can set for certain hours or on timers, so you can keep yourself from checking Facebook or offering a few minutes of mindless scrolling as a reward after you've focused all morning. 

One of the most important apps you can get is a social media manager. Free up your time by pre-scheduling posts. You'll be able to do social media listening for mentions of your company and products as well as finding customers who are dissatisfied with your competitors. You'll see all your mentions, comments and private messages in a single location instead of logging in to ten different platforms and spending hours combing each one. While it takes some research to weed through the sea of apps, it's worth it to be able to grow your business with a small investment instead of hiring whole teams of employees.

3. Expand Your Web Presence

Finally, use the internet to expand your customer base worldwide. Unless you have a product that doesn't travel well, there's no reason to focus on an exclusively local audience. Your social media reach can find people all over the world who want what you have to sell. Invest in a great website that fits your local image and is optimized for mobile. Make sure your checkout page matches the rest of your website and is secured. 

When you invest in these three technologies, you're investing in a business that's ready to take on challenges without a second thought.