When I see relevant stats that my Missoula County business owner friends should know about, I’m going to share them with you. (You already know I’m a numbers person, after all.)
But first, a quick note about the business filing deadline.
Namely, that it’s a week and a half away (on March 15th).
If you haven’t started yet, let’s file an extension and get to work on things for you. Get on my calendar, ASAP, so we can get this knocked out for your business:
Now back to that interesting stat…
This week, I saw that 49 percent of small business owners reported that their businesses performed somewhat or much better than anticipated in 2023. That’s a positive sign!
But that same report showed that only 30 percent reported a profit last year. 🤔
(If this was you, let’s talk. Soon.)
Lots of interesting stats in that report to take in if you’re a business owner.
And this one: half of small business owners are planning to allocate budget toward technology and infrastructure. That’s an important number, and one I want to talk more about today.
Business and tech is an important subject, and especially so when it comes to your business budget.
Making Your Missoula Business and Tech Work to Your Advantage
“Innovation is the application of technology to solve problems.” – Jeff Bezos
I won’t mince words: it’s time to increase your technology budget for your Missoula business.
But use your funds wisely – a study by IDC found that businesses waste an average of 20-30 percent of their IT budget on maintaining outdated legacy systems. Instead of spending all of your budget to maintain an antiquated system, allocate a portion of funds each year toward investing in new technology.
There are a multitude of important areas on which to focus when it comes to business and tech.
So let’s dive into a few areas you should prioritize in your budget to not only advance but also protect your business.
Advancing Your Business
You may have heard of AI a few times in the last couple of years. We’re all probably guilty of rolling our eyes each time we hear about it, because it comes up about every other sentence.
But we can’t deny that generative AI is revolutionizing the way businesses operate. With the potential to add as much as 4.4 trillion in economic value across various industries, AI’s prowess in enhancing productivity and innovation cannot be overstated.
While AI in complex applications gets a lot of attention, a Gartner report predicts that this year, 40 percent of employees will use AI assistants for everyday tasks, like scheduling meetings, summarizing reports, and generating creative content.
Cloud computing is another foundational tech element to prioritize in your business and budget. If you haven’t gone there yet, it really is a secure and flexible solution for storing and accessing your data, regardless of location. Subscription-based pricing helps you scale your needs up or down as your business grows.
And let’s talk about the growing importance of real-time analysis of customer and business data. Advanced analytics and AI tools can sift through massive datasets to uncover insights that were previously hidden. This not only helps in tailoring products and services to meet customer needs but also in identifying operational efficiencies that can save costs and improve productivity.
Make informed decisions that drive results. That’s the name of the business success game this year, and in years to come. You can’t afford not to.
Protecting Your Business
Then there’s the flipside of all of this advancement – protecting your business from digital criminals looking to capitalize on all of it. As businesses embrace digital transformation, the specter of cyber threats looms larger.
So investing in cyber threat intelligence and network security is no longer optional. Cybersecurity measures are essential in an era when the cost of cyberattacks has reached all-time highs.
Cyber threat intelligence services, for example, provide real-time insights into the latest threats and vulnerabilities, allowing you to proactively strengthen your defenses. Think of it as having a security expert constantly on the lookout for potential dangers.
And your network security should involve firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and encryption technologies at a minimum.
As staff shortages are only predicted to grow in tech fields, consider training your own staff for your unique needs related to tech and your business.
And as it applies to protecting your financial data, make sure you use an accounting firm like ours that utilizes the latest accounting software and cloud solutions.
The potential for tech to revolutionize every aspect of your Missoula business, from operations to customer engagement and beyond, is immense. And overwhelming. So let’s start with your accounting data security. My team and I can help protect you:
Taking your business to the next level,
Nancy Kieffer