You need to bring your company into the 21st Century to continue to do business. If you don’t, you will lose out to a competitor willing to embrace change and adapt to a new way of getting things done. Fortunately, all of the necessary changes are easy and won’t cost the earth. So here are some practical tips for modernizing your company against the competition.
Reduce Company Car Fuel Consumption
Almost all of us are too dependent on fossil fuels and unsustainable materials. And the world is changing as a reflection. And if you play your role, along with everyone else, it might not be too late. As a company, you have a golden opportunity to show the world how your business is compassionate and aware of planetary needs by reducing your dependency on fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel. For example, with carefully planned fuel management strategies for your vehicles, you can use fleet card payment systems that monitor and reduce fuel consumption.
Embrace Sustainability Options
There’s much more to planetary issues than the fuel in your company vehicles. You can make impactful changes by adapting your company to be more eco-friendly than your competitors. Examples include the paperless office, switching energy suppliers to green providers and overhauling your manufacturing or supply processes. Of course, some of these are easier than others. But by being as sustainable as possible, you can show the world you are ready for a change in your sector. Further, you will attract like-minded companies for increased business.
Bring Your Company into the 21st Century with EVs
Road vehicles account for almost 30% of global carbon emissions. A significant amount by any stretch. Fortunately, many countries worldwide have pledged a ban on the sale of combustion engine vehicles by 2030. But you don’t need to wait until then to play your part in helping reduce greenhouse gasses. You can drastically lower your carbon footprint with electric vehicles since they have 0% emissions. And they aren’t as poor as they once were. Strict laws and changing attitudes force manufacturers to make better EVs, and you can even get electric vans.
Project Outward Changes to Company Culture
The 2020s have so far been fraught with significant events. The horrendous death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, COVID-19, and the war in Ukraine. As a company, you have the opportunity to stand in solidarity with such important causes by shifting company culture and publicly stating it. For example, you can place company policies on your websites, such as your stance on sexual harassment or racial abuse. Further, social media will allow you to communicate your concerns in real-time as and when significant events happen.
Maintain Excellent Cybersecurity
Your business is vulnerable to hacking because data is extremely valuable today. Information is now so in demand it has surpassed the value of oil. Therefore, you should protect personal, private and company data with excellent cybersecurity:
- Educate employees about password sharing and social engineering.
- Implement a password change policy every month.
- Purchase reputable anti-malware such as Malwarebytes or Kaspersky.
- Backup data daily or weekly in case of lockout or theft.
- Hire a managed IT service for the best overall protection.
Of course, there’s much more to cybersecurity. However, even basic protection can make a massive difference. If you are low on funds or aren’t confident in your abilities to secure your systems, then managed IT services can provide comprehensive security for a low monthly fee.
Offer Multiple Payment Methods
You’ve probably heard of cryptocurrency and virtual wallets. And if you have, why on earth aren’t you offering them as alternative payment methods to your customers? You can get ahead of any competition simply by doing this. Bitcoin and Altcoins like Ether are now widely used. So much so that Bitcoin offers Bitcoin cash for handling more transactions per second. Additionally, more and more people are paying for items at stores and online via digital wallets loaded with money. Digital wallets include PayPal and Stripe and Google Pay, and Apple Pay.
Engage Directly Using Social Media
Social media isn’t loved by everyone. But you can’t deny it’s a wonderful tool for engaging with customers. Social media is excellent for building hype and launching a new product as a promotional platform. However, you can also engage directly with customers and in real-time. Want to know how they feel about your latest service? Just ask. And they won’t be shy either. Customers on social media will let you know precisely what they are thinking. Whether they are nasty or nice, this is priceless information that wasn’t possible to use just a few years ago.
Blogs Help Bring Your Company into the 21st Century
There are over 500 million active blogs across the web. And you need one whether you like it or not. A blog is an excellent source of inbound lead generation since your posts are being read by people already interested. This means they are more likely to make a purchase when directed through strategically-placed links. The main reason is that blogs help bring in traffic via search engine optimization strategies. Essentially, a customer searches for something. Your company pops up in Google because you are related to that search query.
Switch to Efficient Cloud-Based Systems
Perhaps you’ve heard of the cloud. You are using it and aren’t aware. Still, it refers to anything you use over the web and is so-called because the internet is depicted as a cloud on network diagrams. Yet the current interpretation of the cloud is services that aren’t local to your PCs or network. For example, Google Docs is a cloud-based system since it’s a suite of apps you use that aren’t installed on your computers. Cloud services offer more freedom since they are operated by someone else, are usually cheaper (or free) and are typically highly secure.
Summary
The modern world is very complicated. But you needn’t worry because you can modernize easily. Sustainability and eco-friendliness are essential these days, as is support for worthy causes. You can use your blog to tell people about these and generate leads. Yet internet concerns such as data, the cloud and customer engagement are more significant than ever.
