Frederick Jace
Technology is ever-changing, and as a small business owner, it is often up to you to keep up and lead change at your own organization. The good news is that there are serval smart ways to keep up with developing trends and implement what works best at your own company.
Paying for New Tech
Of course, just because you find something that might work for you doesn’t mean you will be able to afford it. You might consider using your personal money to cover the cost of implementing new technology. If you are considering going this route, you can take out a personal loan from a private lender to help get your own finances in order.
Keeping an Eye on Social Media
Spend a bit of time each day looking at social media to monitor trends. Be selective about who you follow on these platforms. See what people are following and look for trends in that. If your business has vendor partners, follow them on social media as well and connect with them. You might consider meeting with them so you can get a better understanding of the technology your company is using. You might talk to the engineers and architects at the vendor as well. By talking to other experts, you will be better prepared to understand the changes in technology today. There is a lot of information out there, and it is your job to determine what is relevant.
Turning to Traditional and New Media Sources
You will want to look for some new media to follow regularly. That includes news and tech websites and apps that were created in the past couple of years. You can balance the perspective you gain with a more traditional source, such as one that has been around for longer. For a more rounded perspective, look for sources that also give political updates. That’s because governmental regulations and politics impacts nearly every spere of life, and technology can drive these changes.
Leverage Your Team’s Knowledge
You likely don’t have many hours each day to research the world of technology each day. So, you can make things a little bit more efficient. You might set up alerts for certain things that are more relevant to you. Then you can skim your alerts to keep up with the biggest changes. For example, you should know if VPNs are legal or not, but you may not even know what a VPN is, so you need to begin with the basics. As you go through these alerts, you will get a general sense of what everyone is talking about.
You can then ask partners and employees if they know more about these things. You might call or meet with people for a short call so you can get updated on these things. If you have a few of these conversations, you can likely get a few different perspectives, which you can build upon. It will save you a lot of time doing individual research. And if you do come across a topic that is interesting, you can have your employees research it and present the information they found to everyone. It will keep both you and the larger team updated on what is going on.
