Almost four-fifths of small businesses in the U.S. are self-financed, and more than 80% of these businesses have no employees aside from the founder. Compared with large, corporate conglomerates, small businesses have limited resources that they have to make smart use of to succeed.

Whether your small business wants to maximize revenue, staff time, marketing ROI, or all three, you likely rely on technology to help. But to grow your operations and deliver quality products and services, you’ll need to ensure your technology is working for you to make your business processes as smooth and efficient as possible.

In this guide, we’ll explore why it’s so important to audit your business technology and what results mean it’s time for an upgrade. Let’s get started!

Why audit and update your technology?

Auditing your technology is a proactive step your small business can take to ensure it remains efficient, secure, and competitive. By identifying areas for technological upgrades and process improvements, your business can:

• Enhance efficiency and productivity by removing slowdowns from your processes, automating repetitive tasks, integrating systems, and more.
• Improving security and preventing data breaches by opting for newer systems with more stringent security standards.
• Saving money that would otherwise be used for maintaining aging technology, purchasing add-ons or third-party software to expand a system’s capabilities, or seeking specialized support.
• Providing enhanced customer experiences with faster, more reliable booking systems, customer support tools, and other business-specific solutions.

For example, let’s say you start a pet grooming service out of your home. At first, your clients are mostly friends, family, and acquaintances, and you’re able to manage appointments with spreadsheets and a free app. But when you move into a storefront, hire a few employees, and drastically increase your customer base, you suddenly realize the spreadsheets and app aren’t cutting it.

In this case, it’s a good time to reevaluate what is working and what isn’t. Once you audit your solutions, you decide to make the switch to specialized pet scheduling software that can handle your industry’s unique needs, save staff time, and enhance customer experiences.

How can you tell when it’s time to make a change?

The system frequently has technical issues.

If you’ve ever had an app on your phone crash or a document freeze and delete your progress, you know how frustrating unexpected tech issues are. When it comes to your business software, the stakes are even higher. You could lose important data, put customers’ information at risk, and unintentionally provide poor user experiences for customers.

If you’re experiencing the following issues, it’s likely time to explore a new system:

• Frequent system crashes and downtime
• Slow loading times, delays, and lags when running the software
• Incompatibility with other hardware or software (e.g. POS systems or third-party apps)
• Limited or discontinued tech support from the software vendor
• Security vulnerabilities you can’t easily fix yourself
• Inflexibility, lack of customizability, and scalability issues 

Additionally, look out for signs that the system isn’t evolving with the rest of the technology world. For example, most leading software providers offer automated workflows to make your life easier. Some are quick to incorporate the latest technological advances, like AI, into their offerings. Your software should modernize with your business, and if it doesn’t, consider switching solutions.

Your technology offers limited scalability.

As mentioned, scalability issues are a solid indicator that your business is outgrowing its current system. A scalable system should seamlessly accommodate your growth while maintaining efficiency and not impede your progress. Scalability issues may manifest as:

• Performance bottlenecks: Increased transactions, users, or data volumes cause the software to lag or crash.
• Rigid architecture: The core structure of the software is inflexible and unable to adapt to your changing needs and priorities.
• Data storage limits: The system has a hard cap on data storage capacity and your business has exceeded it.
• Limited users: Some software limits the number of “seats” you can offer users. POS systems may have a maximum number of terminals you can use.
• Complex configurations: Adding new features, integrations, or customizations will be extremely difficult, costly, and time-consuming.

These issues are more likely to appear with on-premises software, or software installed on your business’s computers rather than being run on remote servers or clouds. Custom-built solutions and those targeted toward very small businesses may also be at higher risk for scalability issues. Software as a service (SaaS) solutions, on the other hand, are cloud-based and can scale easily by upgrading your plan, for instance.

Your current tools can’t address new business needs.

In addition to managing an increased workload poorly, systems you’ve outgrown may not be able to address new business needs.

For example, if your business expands its offerings to provide more services to clients, you may need to upgrade or implement training software. Digital badges can help give each of your employees consistent training and certify that they are competent in a certain skill. Not only does this instill confidence in your staff and customers, but it will help you stand out from competitors.

Or, perhaps you’re branching into a new niche. Returning to our dog grooming example, perhaps the business becomes so successful that the owner decides to start offering daycare services as well. In this case, current tools might not be equipped to manage the different processes involved in making reservations, managing morning drop-off and check-in chaos, practicing proper kennel management, and training staff to properly care for pets.

You’ve received customer and employee complaints.

Feedback is one of your business’s most valuable tools, so make sure you’re listening to your staff and customers when it comes to your technology. Here is how to collect or find this feedback:

• From staff: Build a company culture that welcomes and values feedback to make your employees feel more comfortable sharing their honest opinions. Additionally, consider collecting anonymous surveys that ask specific questions about how well they think your current technology functions and where they see room for improvement.
• From customers: First, check online reviews on Google, Yelp, social media, and any other platforms relevant to your industry. Look for any critical feedback customers have about interactions with your website, booking software, online shop, POS system, communications, or other technology-driven functions. Additionally, consider sharing surveys with customers after they purchase your products or services with questions about these experiences.

Once you have this feedback, look for trends. For example, if several employees say that your software becomes slow during rush hours, it may not have the capacity to manage your customer base anymore.

The right technology allows your small business to maximize every dollar and minute of your day, helping your staff do more and strengthening relationships with customers. To avoid constantly switching software, upgrading your tools, and migrating your data, opt for a scalable solution. This way, your technology will help your business expand and be able to grow along with it.