3 Mobility Trends Affecting Small Businesses

Small businesses that embrace technology are growing faster than those who don’t. In fact, technology is often cited as a key factor in giving small businesses a competitive edge.  Taking advantage of the latest technology and staying on top of all the big trends will allow you to gain a competitive edge. As your business grows, it’s important to recognize that your IT needs will change as new technology and tools like business-oriented mobile apps hit the scene.

With that in mind, here are three tech trends that are affecting small businesses today:

1 – The emergence of the mobile workforce
The adoption of personal smartphones and tablets in the workplace started the bring your own device (BYOD) phenomenon, and the mobilization of employees will continue to grow. In fact, it was only two years ago that the number of smartphones sold surpassed the number of PCs sold for the first time.

Recognizing this trend was here to stay, many innovative small businesses have developed and embraced comprehensive BYOD policies that allow employees to use their personal mobile devices for work-related tasks. If you’re looking for a way to improve overall job satisfaction, supporting BYOD in your workplace can be a great move.

2 – Shoppers have gone mobile
If your business offers a product or service, you’re likely already being impacted by mobile shoppers. One of the biggest trends now affecting businesses is “showrooming”, the act of customers using a connected mobile device to compare products and services from your business with prices they find from other businesses online.

Since it’s safe to assume that your customers are looking up your business on a smartphone or tablet, it’s a good idea to have a mobile-friendly website and ask yourself what a mobile shopper could find online from competitors. Once you’ve done this type of evaluation, you’ll be able to assess what steps you can take to utilize this trend to your advantage. For example, many socially-savvy businesses are now encouraging their customers to write reviews on popular social business web sites so mobile shoppers can read them on-the-go.

If you don’t know how to get a mobile website developed, Bell offers Web Site design services that can have a website constructed and up and running for you in as little as 10 business days.

3 – The arrival of LTE
The introduction of Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks in Canada has changed the way we all use our mobile devices. From mobile HD video conferencing, to the ability to transfer large files on-the-go, LTE speeds have revolutionized the mobile experience for businesses of all sizes.

Small businesses all across Canada are taking advantage of LTE speeds to get work done from any location, and there are many examples of how LTE has helped businesses become more innovative.

Wondering how they’re doing it? Say for example, you own a small trendy clothing store. Utilizing a mobile device that supports LTE speeds, you could upload a quick Vine video from your mobile device of two outfits to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Then you could include a message that asks your customers which one they like and why. And just like that, one Vine video has the potential to create a whole thread of engaging conversation between you and your customers.

Bell offers the largest LTE coverage in Canada with speeds of 75 Mbps in some areas and 150 Mbps in others.  These faster speeds allow you to create and share high quality content on social media and engage with your customers, all through a mobile device.

The bottom line
Technology will always evolve. As a small business owner, it’s important to stay on top of the trends that can help you mobilize your employees, grow your social presence on mobile devices, and engage with your customers on social media.