Small business are the core driver of the United States economy. There are estimated to be over 20 million such businesses in the USA. They employ 50.6 percent of the private sector workforce and represent over 95% of American exports.
According to the Small Business Administration, small businesses have provided about 2/3 of net new employment annually over the last ten years. It is clear that small businesses are the primary driver of US economic growth. Therefore if you work for or lead a small business, it is important to assess how new technologies can augment your productivity.
In particular, most small businesses would be ideally served to consider how on-line technology can help them. One example is how one free conference call company is making possible online organizing of teleconferencing. In so doing, Rondee's conference calling service for small business is balancing out the conference calling playing field with the better resourced competition from big business.
First Tip: Consider technologies to enable desktop sharing
Small businesses serving distant markets generally cannot afford to travel much, and it is difficult to expect in person meetings. Technology is addressing this problem by way of desktop sharing. Whether it's sharing a PowerPoint presentation illustrating the group's revenue plan or a spreadsheet showing the employee performance, desktop sharing can be quite useful for many small businesses.
Second Tip: Utilize web tools for networking
The most successful small business managers create networks of supporters who believe in their philosophy and goals. While the term networking frequently gets an undesirable reputation, the clear reality is that these networks can provide significant help. Today in Silicon Valley, the expectation is that professional folks will have at least a basic profile.
Meanwhile, other networking applications such as Facebook are starting to see usage by more professional users. These services also provide a relatively easy method of developing your network.
Third Tip: Use a free teleconference offering
In the last handful of years, there has been increasing levels of coordination between
small business managers and customers and partners. One underlying reason for this trend has been lower air travel costs – a trend that is now reversing with the leaping oil prices alluded to earlier.
With travel prices sharply increasing, alternative means of collaboration have become crucial. In that sense, free conference calling services such as those launched by Rondee as described earlier, make a lot of sense. All of these teleconferencing systems work on the same core principle. They give users a personal access number and a toll number to call. If all teleconference users dial the same toll number and enter the same code, they are placed into the conference phone call.
Fourth Tip Leverage data based decision-making
One of the most significant trends recently affecting small business managers has been the increasing reliance on evidence based decision-making. Practitioners can apply the same practices with simple to use Excel or Lotus spread-sheeting applications to determine what works and what does not work for capital budgeting and general business strategy. Increasingly, the hurdle for quality decision-making is rising and reliance on conjecture and theory is being replaced by empirical evidence to support decisions.
Tip #5: Deploy an electronic newsletter system
It was not that long in the past that sending out an email newsletter was time consuming and tiresome. That has now changed. On-line services are making it possible to use template based and scalable newsletters. These services cut the work-load by approximately 80% and in so doing enable small business managers to focus on content development for customers rather than delivery of messages.
Author's Bio
Bob Letterman frequently writes about areas of concern to small businesses. Letterman played a part in building the teleconferencing system powering the Rondee free conference calling service.
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