5 Ways to Stay Ahead of the Trends in Business: Be Cutting Edge

Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.

In many ways, running a business hasn't changed over history, sell something, make it good quality, and provide great customer service. While this is true, as society and technology have progressed how we meet these customer expectations has moved on. It is important as a conscientious business owner that we stay on top of, and ahead of, these trends to ensure we become a cutting-edge operator.

Explore Alternative Technologies

It always pays to explore new and emerging technologies. Think about how the early adopters of the internet fared, getting in first and having decent top-level domains. Initially, there was the dotcom boom, and then the dotcom crash, but those who persisted now have some valuable web domains that bring a lot of traffic.

Deliveries of the Future

We have already seen huge advances in technology in the logistics industry over recent years. You can now track and trace your package, often in real-time to see it delivered. It is important to give the best possible customer experience when sending items. The future looks to be heading one step further with automated delivery drones that you may even be able to direct them in real-time to where you would like your package to be dropped.

Payments & Finance

The way we deal with money seems to be always changing. The decline of physical cash is more evident every year, and even the types and nature of digital payments are changing massively. There is a wealth of choice from cards, bank transfers, PayPal, Apple Pay, and more. Even the currencies are changing, people buying Bitcoins to get away from the traditional denominations issued by central banks, and the regulations that come with them are not uncommon.

Apps

Just being online is not enough anymore, but having a platform that is uniquely yours. Every business worth its salt has developed a bespoke app to sell goods, or give information out, and sometimes the app is the business itself. Anyone can get an app built for them at a reasonable price. It's important to find a developer that understands your industry and what you are trying to achieve, ask to see examples of previous work and hopefully, they should have some relevant ones that relate to you.

Artificial Intelligence

AI, or artificial intelligence, in the past was the way of the future. Or at the very least, to be the domain of big business. But these days, it is accessible to all sizes and types of enterprise, and people are more used to it than ever, consider the use of smart devices in almost every home. You could incorporate it into various aspects of the running of your business. The most common is in customer relations, having a chatbot answer text messages and emails, or an automated phone system. How about financial and business planning? You can use AI to analyze and make suggestions on your trends by looking at your books.

*This article has been contributed on behalf of Paxful. However, the information provided herein is not and is not intended to be, investment, financial, or other advice.

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