3 Tech Essentials Your Small Business Needs to Thrive In 2017

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Technology is made to make people’s lives easier, and the same should go for small business. Things can be much tougher than they have to be if you aren’t keeping up with basic trends, though. You don’t have to be the most high-tech entrepreneur to attract customers, but there are a few tech essentials you need to have to succeed in 2017:

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Mobile-Friendly Website

The most important of the tech essentials. We previously talked about how being mobile friendly was a driving force when building the new 411.ca – it’s because mobile is that important. 40% of Canadians used their smartphones as their primary web-browsing device in 2016 alone, with the numbers rising. Tack that on to Google and Bing’s new algorithms that now rank mobile-friendly websites higher, and you have a legitimate necessity. You can test your site’s mobile-friendliness with this cool tool from Google. 

Don’t have a mobile-friendly website? We can help.

Square

In the fast-paced small business environment, dealing with getting paid shouldn’t be an added stress. Waiting for an invoice to be paid or having a cheque bounce are two examples of problems professional service workers, contractors and freelancers deal with regularly. Square and the nifty Square Reader allows you to take credit card payments directly to your phone. All your customer needs to do is swipe. Its secure Point of Sale app allows you to take a payment instantly, and have it deposited into your bank account in 1-2 business days. This is especially crucial for the new generation of cashless consumers. For brick and mortar store owners, Square also offers the Stand. It’s important to note the equipment itself and the Square app are highly secure and every transaction is encrypted, meaning no information is stored on the device, just the money.

Ultra-Portable/Tablet/2-in-1

Gone are the days where you need a bulky “business” laptop or desktop to run all of your business-related tasks. All of the necessary computing power you’d need to run the day to day tasks like accounting software, Microsoft Office Suite or even photo and video editing is available in much smaller form factors. Things like the Surface Pro line or iPad Pros are pretty steep in cost, but the productivity bonus accompanying them make it more than worth it for your business. As a bonus, the iPad Pro and the new line of Surface Pros come with a sim card slot option, allowing you to be productive from anywhere.

Adopting technology is key to staying ahead of the online-dominant 2017. New technologies are available every day that makes the lives of business owners easier, like automated accounting software, e-commerce and customer service software. Those will be easier to adopt over time, but it’s important to have the tech essentials to keep your business growing.

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