Until recently, starting a business was nearly impossible for entrepreneurs who had few options for support and resources. Today, new technology and platforms are making things more equal, helping startups and entrepreneurs who were once held back by costs and lack of expertise.
With enterprise-level software and services now at their fingertips, the global economy is seeing a surge of the entrepreneurial spirit.
It’s not just the Silicon Valley scene that’s getting an advantage out of the development of tech tools. Small businesses are rapidly reaping the benefits of gadgets and platforms they’d never had access to just a few years ago as well.
Technology is making the ventures of an entrepreneur more rewarding and accessible than ever before. Here’s how:
1. Pioneering Made Easier
More and more platforms are sprouting up to help companies quickly and fluidly build storefronts. Sites like Amazon Web Services and Backspace are helping startups to make sales and quickly include their brand in their respective markets.
In fact, from legal programs to delivery services, there are hundreds of applications around to help startups and small businesses forge the way. With so many options available entrepreneurs no longer have to gather up investors to set up brick-and-mortar establishment, or beg their way into larger stores. Retail has never been easier.
2. Downward Costs Are Making It Cheaper
One of the biggest barriers getting in the way of entrepreneurial endeavors has always been cash. Today’s technology hasn’t entirely solved the solution, however they are shrinking barriers much faster than ever before. For one, technology’s ability to help entrepreneurs plug into the global market is giving business a broader audience and customer base, no matter how niche a product or service is.
Word-of-mouth promotion coupled with analytics tools are granting entrepreneurs access to markets that had long been written off as inaccessible to small and medium sized businesses only a few years ago.
Customer base isn’t the only aspect that’s benefited, the business financing environment is profiting as well. Investor and crowdfunding platforms like AngelList and Kickstarter are connecting startups with investors and supporters across the globe. These tech solutions are helping more and more entrepreneurs get their companies off the ground for less while helping them reach profitability more quickly.
3. Management Is Getting Easier
It’s rare for an entrepreneur to create a startup with the knowhow needed for every managerial aspect of a business. Yet, true insight into the back office of a company is imperative for every business to get right. Today’s tech age is providing brands of all sizes the tools they need to cover accounting, payroll and even administrative tasks. Just a few years ago, companies were limited in their options for such services but software like TSheets and Trello are helping them to get started on the semantics of services they don’t specialize in.
4. Global Communication and Cloud Computing Make It Easier
Cloud computing programs are propelling companies’ abilities to store and access data and programs over the internet, without being anchored to a desktop computer. Thus, entrepreneurs are no longer bound by their locations. They can run a lucrative business and employ a staff right from their own homes with access to video chat and conferencing tools like Skype, Google Hangout and Slack. With lightning fast communication tools, business can connect with resources and clients the world over and solve solutions faster than ever.
5. Accelerated Learning
Access to modern technology coupled with the internet have granted entrepreneurs the ability to leverage various learning tools to help them master their projects and communicate their own efforts to customers.
With a single platform, they can share and improve upon a person’s understanding of services in ways that could have never been done without the help of crowd-sourced platforms like Yelp, Angie’s List and even Facebook.
What’s more, these review hubs can help entrepreneurs stay in the loop on what it is that their products and services should do to improve upon customer experiences.