How can technology improve a small business?

For small businesses, keeping up with all the latest technology can be a difficult task with the speed it moves at. From embracing augmented reality; to making use of 3D printing, we take a look at five ways different technologies could benefit your business.

3D printing

When 3D printing first entered the market, prices were sky-high and nobody really invested their time into it. Fast-forward a few years and 3D printing is mainstream and the prices are falling. It has never been easier to or cheaper to transform ideas into actual products.

Until recently, however, 3D printing has often required skilled digital designers who have a wealth of digital modelling experience. Now, though, tools have become available to make this much easier – such as being able to scan real-world objects into computers so designers can choose what they want to change, as opposed to modelling each object from start to finish.

Smart lighting

Although you may not notice, the lighting you are exposed to (whether this be at home or at work) has a major effect on your mental well-being. Studies show that fluorescent lighting can leave people feeling drowsy and agitated and until now, solutions to these kinds of problems were hard to come by.

However, smart lighting devices are allowing businesses to have more control over their work environment. These devices can be controlled over Wi-Fi using a smartphone or other devices and they’re much more than simply being able to turn lights on or off, you can dim the lights to meet your own requirements or even customise the lights to follow a set schedule (instead of fiddling with them all the time).

While some SME’s may not have the budget for their own technology department, it is more affordable to invest in these technologies in order to make work life easier and more convenient, making day-to-day operations also improve and as a result, saving your business time and money.

Wireless charging

Do you ever go to get your charging device and the wires are all tangled up? Well, this could be a thing of the past with wireless charging technology. Instead of finding a charger to plug in your phones, laptops and even office equipment such as lamps and printers, it will soon be possible to charge them in a more ease of access way via wireless solutions.

Mobile phones are leading the way in terms of wireless charging pads, by connecting them to power via a USB and place your phone on top of it for it to charge wirelessly and at speed.

Augmented reality

You could be forgiven if you thought augmented reality and virtual are the same, but in actual fact they are very different things. Virtual reality can take you to different environments while augmented reality displays real time information over the real world.

A good example of this is HP’s Aurasma, this tool allows you to create an app that can turn any object, place or image into an opportunity for augmented reality.

Augmented reality experiences facilitate the opportunity to bring ordinary objects to life with digital information by simply using your camera on your smartphone to scan objects. So, if your presenting a presentation, this can make the facts and figures appear to jump off the page, this then enhances the presentation and creates a lasting impression.

Sturdier screens

It is common knowledge that phone screens, laptop screens and tablet screens are all too easy to break, and dealing with and paying for repairs can be a huge inconvenience for small businesses, costly and bad for productivity.

This could also be a thing of the past with the new ‘gorilla glass’ soon entering the marketplace. Gorilla glass is designed to be damage-resistant and shatter-proof, but still offers brilliant screen quality as it is still thin and light enough for an excellent user experience.

Scott Sanderson, Partner at Hawsons, had this to say: “Over the past decade we have seen significant enhancements in technology which has led to increased operational efficiencies across our broad client base covering a variety of sectors, which is great to see.”

Scott Sanderson

Scott Sanderson began his career with Hawsons and trained as a Chartered Accountant, becoming a partner in 2015, specialising in the healthcare sector and small businesses. For more details and advice, please contact Scott on ss@hawsons.co.uk or 0114 266 7141.[/author_info]