Often technological advancements allow industry leaders and big corporations a handful of advantages over smaller competitors. Small and mid-size have often been on the receiving end of such developments. However, the Internet of Things (IoT) can help settle the score by allowing small businesses or mid-size organizations with massive resources.
Barriers SMBs can overcome with IoT
Before jumping into the ways IoT can help SMBs, here are quite a few disadvantages that small startups and businesses face while competing with veterans:
- Lack of resources:
Small-to-medium enterprises often lack the resources to manage their businesses on all fronts. Whether it is engineering, distribution, partnerships, customer support, or marketing, every area of the business consumes resources. SMBs have a hard time allocating enough resources everywhere as and when needed.
- Manual operations:
For startups and smaller organizations, employees have to wear many hats as required. Manually taking care of every area of the business is no less complicated than juggling all items at once. Leading small businesses to an endless cycle of manual problem-solving.
- Stagnant progress:
Manual operations and lack of resources render SMBs to function in a linear manner where their growth is directly dependent on the amount of effort and raw hard work. However, it is not an advantageous position against big enterprises.
- Limited visibility:
Small to mid-size businesses do not have time or bandwidth to dig deeper on the ground level to diagnose their business conduct and find definitive ways to improvise without monitoring and tracing through IoT.
How does IoT help small businesses?
The above-mentioned barriers to small businesses are ever-existent. However, IoT presents a window of opportunity for them to grow out of their limitations. Here are just a few benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT):
- Improved efficiency & output:
Small and medium-sized businesses can tap into a whole new level of productivity and growth. They can level IoT devices, sensors, and actuators to automate a handful of business operations. All this data can allow owners to be selective of their attention.
- Easy operational responsibilities:
IoT can help SMBs in a variety of ways, such as tracking equipment, inventory control, monitoring employees, tracing the supply chain, conserving energy, and even detecting customer engagement. Such things can be automated precisely as SMB owners can focus on their niche.
- Saving money & more profitability:
IoT devices can also help with cost reduction in different small business operations. IoT for SMBs can reduce the need for human employment, manage repetitive tasks quicker, reduce waste, and meet consumer demand opportunities.
- Better consumer experience:
Better consumer experience is at the heart of any growing business. With IoT in businesses, small-to-medium enterprises can personalize and improve customer experience. IoT solutions for small businesses can benefit anywhere, whether it is sharing real-time availability of products, answering their queries, allowing remote purchases, or reducing delivery time.
- Security & safety measures:
For SMBs, it is not feasible to deploy extravagant security measures. IoT devices and IoT systems can help them by taking care of real-time monitoring of their facilities for any kind of theft, security compromise, fire breakouts, or even insurance claims.
How can your small business adopt IoT?
Adopting IoT smart devices in business smarts with evaluating your problems and goals. Once a business owner has clarity of the problems to resolve, many IoT solutions are available. These IoT applications can be implemented through the right infrastructure of IoT network, IoT devices, IoT sensors, Cloud network infrastructure, and a user interface.
