Top 5 Small Business Investments
We know your business budget is probably tight. You’re growing quickly, and you’re wondering what purchases you need to be making to accommodate your business. The adage is true — you’ve got to spend money to make money. But that doesn’t mean you should spend money unwisely. Take a look at these five investments that small businesses should make.
1. Mobile solutions.
You will need your business to be mobile and flexible. That means investing in tablets, smartphones and laptops — maybe even a VPN setup. Not spending this money means that you are dead in the water when you’re not in the office. You can even use your mobile devices in-store as checkouts! Thinking outside the box can not only save you money, but it can put you ahead of the technology curve.
2. Cloud Computing.
If you followed our number one suggestion, great! But now you need to make those mobile devices work to the best of their ability. If you’re on your tablet, away from the office, but can’t access your data, then what good is that? The cloud will afford you the luxury of working from anywhere, at any time — and any owner of a small business knows that 5:00 doesn’t mean it’s quittin’ time.
3. A great online storefront.
There’s only one chance to make a great first impression. Can your customers find you quickly? Do they know where you are? Can they make a purchase online? If you don’t have a solid ecommerce solution, you should probably look into one. If you’re in business to make money, then your customers need to be able to spend easily.
4. Support.
At one point or another, you’re going to need help. Calling your college-aged neighbor to come dig you out of a massive IT catastrophe probably isn’t the best game plan. If you find yourself in trouble and try to seek someone then, it’s probably too late. Have a support team in place, at the ready, at all times, and you’ll save money in the long run. The time to find out that you don’t have a QuickBooks suport contract is not when you’ve encountered a corrupted file.
5. A safety net.
This goes for everything — a modem, router, network pipe, etc. If something vital to your network goes down, you’re a sitting duck until you can get it repaired or replaced. The cost of this redundancy may be great at first, but the cost of losing business (and your reputation) can be even greater.