Technology is changing all the time, with new advancements helping businesses to become more and more efficient. Start-ups that don’t invest in new technology will run the risk of falling behind the competition, as many businesses are starting to recognise the importance of staying up-to-date.

New technology doesn’t necessarily have to look impressive and exciting. In fact, lots of technology is designed to make processes behind the scenes more effective. This is especially helpful if you’re the sole employee of your start-up, as it can be hard to juggle everything on your own. These are some types of technology you need to consider:

Accounting Software

Whether you’re using spreadsheets or handwriting your accounts, it’s probably time to upgrade your system and discover accounting software. If you have a head for numbers, you might be wondering if you really need a computer programme to do the calculations for you. But accounting software is about much more than that. Even if you’re well-used to calculating your taxes, the software will speed up this process by automating all the adding and subtracting for you. This gives you back valuable time to concentrate on bettering your business.

As your start-up grows, accounting software will also help you to manage your payroll and give you complete visibility over your cashflow. What’s more, all your records will be kept safe and secure from prying eyes and computer viruses.

Cloud Sharing

With everything moving online now, cloud sharing can help you to collaborate with clients and agencies. You’ll have access to all your information wherever you are, which is ideal for anyone who travels often or needs to work when on the move. Cloud sharing and storage also adds an extra layer of security to your start-up, as it means all your hard work is safely backed up virtually and not just on your hard drive. This can help you to avert disasters should something happen to your device.

AI

From chatbots to automating processes, AI is quickly being integrated into more and more businesses. Not only can AI improve the customer experience, but it can also help you to process orders more efficiently and manage your inventory. Start-ups could begin by trialling a chatbot that can offer customer support to clients and then progress to more complex AI processes as demand increases.

Security

With hacking becoming more and more prevalent as the world turns towards the digital, security has never been more important. Customers will want to know their details are being encrypted and start-ups need to make sure their website doesn’t experience downtime. When setting up your website, it’s worth investing a little bit of extra money into security. At the very least you should obtain an SSL certificate, which means your site will display the secure padlock symbol to tell users it’s safe to input their details.

If your budget is limited, you could consider launching your start-up on a well-established website to begin. This could include something like Etsy or Upwork depending on the products or services you’re selling. While this does limit the growth of your business, customers may feel more secure sending across payment details.