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Author: Nick Reese
If you're a small business owner preparing to launch a new business—or perhaps you've already put out your shingle—you likely have a checklist that is a mile long. What services will you offer? What will you sell? Where will you source your products? How will you find employees? And how will you attract customers?
But one item that should be at the top of every small business owner's list is technology. As the foundation of your business operations, understanding and choosing the right technology will be essential to helping you drive your business productivity, efficiency, competitiveness and success.
The more you can leverage technology in the early days of your business to improve operations, the better you will be equipped to attract and retain your first customers and build positive word of mouth. Here are tips for new small business owners to help you understand your technology options.
Small businesses require high-speed, secure and reliable internet connectivity to run their business applications. This is why it is important to look for a partner who can provide reliable, fast and scalable connectivity to help support your specific business needs. Learn what you need to know to select and set up the business internet services you require.
A high-speed, secure and reliable internet connection is a fundamental technology for small business. You can use it to run almost all your business applications, which these days are often operated in the cloud instead of on your PC. In addition, you can use your business internet to communicate with customers, access business data, manage your e-commerce applications, conduct banking, interface with suppliers and more. Business internet is essential to help you run your business right from the start.
When it comes to choosing a small business internet provider, you will want to compare how the different internet service providers (ISPs) in your area compare across the following factors:
Business owners operating out of the home may need to consider what works best for them because business internet plans cater to the needs of businesses, potentially providing advantages over residential plans. Business internet plans can offer features that a small business owner might need such as cybersecurity tools.
Wired or wireless business internet plans can be customized depending on your needs:
Every small business owner should analyze how they plan to use technology when selecting the internet speed they need. That's because a faster speed plan will likely cost more. While a faster speed plan might be nice, there's no reason to pay for it if you're not going to use it.
If your business only uses the internet to do things like send emails, browse the web and complete point-of-sale interactions, a plan like the Verizon LTE Business Internet 10 Mbps plan may meet your needs. For more sophisticated internet needs, Verizon 5G Business Internet offers a 400 Mbps speed plan in select areas, which is capable of handling heavy cloud app usage, streaming media and even advanced devices and robotics—at a higher cost. Learn how to calculate how fast your business internet speed needs to be.
Once you select a provider, contact them to confirm they cover your business address. They can also help you understand your options and determine what type of business internet plan makes the most sense for your needs now and as you grow. Once you choose a plan, the ISP will coordinate with you to install any hardware and activate the service.
The right business mobile plan can help facilitate operations, customer service and communication. There are a variety of devices, services and features from which to choose, so it is important to understand the options that are available to you. Learn more.
While you can get a phone that is hardwired into your location, many businesses now employ a cloud-based phone system. For example, Verizon One Talk makes it easy to use both One Talk desk phones and smartphones using the cloud. With One Talk, you can easily manage your phone system, add new numbers, forward calls from a desk phone to a smartphone, support conferencing and more, without a lengthy installation process. Learn how small businesses like yours use One Talk.
Your business mobile plan is just as important as the wired or wireless internet plan you choose for your business location for all the same reasons—facilitating operations, customer service and communication. In addition, the right mobile plan can help small business owners and their employees stay connected when they are away from their desks, working at a customer site, traveling for business and more.
You and your employees can also use smartphones to access your IT solutions for small business, such as project management software, payment processing, invoices, files and applications. However, to make the most use of these services you'll need the right plan and devices to match.
The right mobile plan should make it easy to run your business on the go. Here's what to look for:
5G is the latest generation of mobile network technology. 5G can provide data transfer speeds that are higher than typical 4G speeds, which can enable the greater network capacity and lower latency required to support advanced applications.
5G is in the process of being rolled out across the U.S. For Verizon users, 5G Ultra Wideband is now available to over 200 million people and the company continues to expand its 5G Ultra Wideband network, including in rural and suburban areas.
A small business owner will likely need a smartphone in order to stay connected on the go and access business applications. Employees that work outside the office—such as field staff or remote workers—may also need their own business-provided smartphones. Another option is a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy that allows employees to use their personally owned phones, saving you money and some of the burden of managing those devices.
Depending on your type of business, you may also require tablets. Tablets are often used in point-of-sale systems to enable checkout. They are also used across operations to help employees look up inventory, input orders from the field and access data on the go.
It can be overwhelming to sift through the hundreds of different smartphones and tablets available for your business. Here's what to look for, so you can make the right choice for your business:
There are other technology solutions, such as cloud storage, customer relationship management systems, and more that can help support the needs of your small business. Find out more.
A virtual meeting and conferencing solution is used to meet with others through a device instead of in person. This software enables real-time video, audio, text chat, screen sharing, whiteboarding and other features to be accessed through a PC, smartphone or tablet. This can help employees collaborate with each other or connect with clients and prospects, wherever they are.
There are many different types of virtual meeting and conferencing platforms on the market. Some are better suited to small meetings and collaboration, while others are better suited to hosting larger events like webinars or conferences. Learn more about video and collaboration solutions by Verizon.
Choosing the right internet network, mobile plan and mobile devices can give you the foundation you need to unlock other technologies. Consider which of the following solutions may be relevant to your specific business needs:
Technology is a business necessity. By taking the time to select the right technologies now, you can build a solid foundation for your business to grow—technologies that can help you to drive efficiency, scale operations and compete for customers. If you want to learn how to set up a small business with the right technology, Verizon can help.
Find more about how Verizon can help you unlock opportunities for your small business.
The author of this content is a paid contributor for Verizon.
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