10 Tech Trends for Small Business in 2023

As of the end of last year, there were 33.2 million small businesses in the United States, which encounter 99,9% of all registered businesses. Clearly, in the modern era it is relatively easy to define the main small business technology trends due to two main factors:

• Digital transformation become a spreading phenomenon, so it is hard to even imagine a modern business, which does not use any technological solutions or proposes various online services.
• Thanks to the world wide web, as well as countless services and apps, dedicated to statistics, it becomes easy not only to define recent trends but to predict potential future tendencies, especially those, directly linked to software solutions.

Despite the fact, that the foregoing numbers are the latest statistics and we can only estimate how many of them have been closed because of various obstacles the market brings, it is hard to deny that the number of small businesses is impressively large. To stay afloat, they need to be highly dynamic. Something needs to be changed, something needs to be added, something needs to be taken away – just as any living organism works.

Let’s discover 10 business tech trends in 2023 and how technological trends affect businesses, making them more profitable and competitive.

The Future of Technology in Business

As was mentioned before, it is extremely hard to imagine any type of business, which wasn’t affected by digital transformation. As a matter of fact, various examples of business and technology combination shows how businesses can benefit from adopting software solutions.

For instance, automation software add-ons and applications are significantly simplifying the everyday life of any business owner, giving them great management tools. We believe, that the future of technology in business is inevitably bright. Nowadays, cafes and restaurants, local shops, as well as other small businesses are becoming more and more dependent on technology. Actually, it includes not only specified software apps like Google Sheets and Excel from Microsoft, other accounting software, various Customer Management Systems, etc but also includes different devices like card readers or laptops and tablets, which allow for the successful integration of different applications into the overall business model.

Yet, it is worth admitting, that most of the foregoing do not belong to recent technology trends. In order to prove, that such must-have options like the possibility to pay by card are not the only possible improvement, brought by IT technologies, let’s consider some other business technology examples, which are more innovative and appeared recently.

Top Small Business Technology Trends

Frankly speaking, there are a few criteria and business goals, which should be taken care of, and can be easily covered with the use of technological solutions:

• Customer satisfaction, i.e. using recent digital technology trends, businesses are capable of improving their services and providing their customers with better assistance or products. It can be achieved by improved UI/UX design and business application optimization, so it meets the capacities of smart devices, used by the targeted audience.
• Security was always an important aspect, regardless of the nature of business. However, in the Informational era, when techs are used everywhere, governments are trying to find new ways to regulate the IT sphere, as well as industries, which are using some IT solutions. For instance, GDPR regulation defines the process of behaving with the personal information of EU citizens.
• Working routine optimization and automation is possible thanks to the recent digital transformation.

Therefore, each element from the following list of business technology examples, which shows the possibilities and partly illustrate the potential future of technology in business covers some aspects of each of the foregoing business goals and criteria.

Remote Working Routine

The digital transformation might look various: from passing manual tasks on machines to applying Artificial Intelligence. Thanks to the development and appearance of countless technologies, it becomes much easier to keep up with the digital transformation and start integrating and adopting some ideas, which makes the business routine easier and more pleasing.

Remote work is probably the simplest illustration of how technologies can make life easier. For instance, one of the most popular win-win strategies for IT businesses is hiring outsourcing teams. Various technologies like the Internet in general, as well as some specific apps like Slack in particular, allow keeping the working processes going despite the location of each separate member of a dedicated team. Additionally, working remotely gives an opportunity for businesses to gain access to a much wider pool of talents worldwide, additionally saving money due to the salary differences.

Data Management Tools

Data analysis always was a difficult task, not to mention Big Data and all the difficulties it brings.

On the other hand, data analytics fits perfectly with Artificial Intelligence (AI), which allows these innovations to let organizations gather enormous amounts of data and apply machine learning to interpret that data.

Clearly, most modern apps are gathering numbers of data, and have powerful management tools, which can help to process these data. It is not only required to ensure the correct work of different software-based elements but also to define weaknesses and find out what can be improved.

Application for Mobile Devices

Frankly speaking, the presence of your product on mobile devices is significantly important these days. Fortunately, there are numerous ways how to achieve it, even without the need to develop a mobile app from scratch. For instance, there are ways to convert a web app into a mobile application. On the one hand, it is much faster and cheaper, than maintaining a full-fledged development team and the development process itself. However, it might not provide you with all potential benefits and features, accessible by native mobile applications.

Additionally, mobile device applications can be used not only for working with potential customer services but to adjust internal business processes like internal communication, use them as management tools, etc.

Security Measures

Additionally, both software and hardware types of business technology are well-spread cases, when it comes to business security. There are plenty of ready-made solutions, which can be easily integrated within your business logic and improve the overall security of potentially vulnerable data like personal information about the customers, which is stored by your company and used for business purposes.

However, it is worth mentioning, that any ready-made software application or hardware device has its own known vulnerabilities, like the OWASP list. Therefore, it is preferred to spend some extra resources in order to hire a dedicated team for developing custom security policies and protocols.

Cloud Computing Solution

Continuing the previous theme, adopting cloud computing is a great example of small business technology trends. Contrary to custom-made applications, cloud computing allows one to buy ready-made software, which can e easily integrated within any business, regardless of how big or small it is.

Still, cloud computing is extremely popular among small businesses because it allows them to buy a whole package of services, including development and maintenance. To make it simple, cloud computing proposes automated software, which is constantly improved and developed on the side of the vendor. Among the most famous cloud services, it is possible to name Google Cloud or AWS, which are designed specifically to satisfy the needs of small and midsize businesses.

Decentralized Operations

Decentralization can help an expanding company to grow with the use of decentralized ledgers and blockchain technologies. This is a general concept, that let you do a lot with your business. For example, decentralization enables management units to operate as independent entities. This is possible both with agility, but also you can add software systems to let it happen organically.

In addition to software that enables you to keep track of your current employees, the hours they put in, and the benefits they make use of, this also includes innovative solutions for posting open positions, conducting interviews, hiring, and onboarding.

Customer Relationship Management Systems

CRM systems are probably the most known and popular business technology examples. Originally, this type of software was specifically designed for business purposes to satisfy consumer needs and improve the customer experience. Thus, it is not surprising, that CRM systems are almost always included in top small business technology trends.

If you still hadn't operated using CRMs, it's a huge loss. Client management is obviously easier when done online since specific programs offer a full cycle of pipelines, data management tools, and communication features. All repetitive tasks won't be time-wasteful with the automatization of the sales/marketing process.

Make Use of eCommerce Platforms

Another great example of business technology trends is the appearance and usage of various eCommerce platforms. To make it simple, mainly these are basic applications, which allow small and midsize businesses to increase their presence on the Internet.

One of the key features of such software is that using them does not even require development. For now, there is a wide range of different online marketplaces, which propose their services for businesses, i.e. all they have to do - is sign up on the platform and publish their goods or services, distributing them through the platform.

Increasing the Online Presence

Yet, eCommerce platforms are not the only way to increase the online presence of small businesses. For example, among the most recent trends in the field of small business technologies is to create company pages in various social media networks, in order to better communicate with the target audience.

Obviously, without a proper website, platform, or app your product won’t even exist for modern people. Online representation of your small business is as important as any other part of brand development. Surely, custom web app development is a must-have option for any modern brand.

Artificial Intelligence Integration

Probably, this is one of the most recent business technology trends. The advent of various artificial intelligence software like ChatGPT and MidJourney, as well as their open-source nature, allows various small businesses to integrate such complex and scalable technologies even in cases when they have no resources for developing alternatives.

As a matter of fact, AI changed the whole mobile application industry, which is mostly represented by small businesses. Today, most online services, as well as different applications are already proposing their own versions of AI assistants, or are at the final stage of integrating them.

The Bottom Line

Frankly speaking, all the foregoing is by far not the final list of small business technology trends. However, these are the most spread and essential features and actions, recently adopted by small businesses.

Frankly speaking, a lot of business owners are afraid of adopting technological solutions within their companies, believing that software development is a very long-term and expensive activity. Luckily, it is not actually true. Nowadays, there is a wide range of implementing technologies in small businesses. For instance, you can consider MVP startup development as a cheap and fast option to kill two birds with one stone.

To do so, you will need an experienced dedicated team of software developers, such as Incora. To prove our point and сonfirm our words and expertise, we encourage you to check some of our recent case studies.