5 ways to use technology to scale up your business

Before leasing more storage or finding new markets, make sure you’ve got the right tech and infrastructure in place to ensure your enterprise can grow smoothly.

You’ve got an amazing product, healthy initial investment and a solid team of employees. What’s next?

It’s time to scale up. This is often seen as a challenging period, but you can find success by properly utilising a few key digital innovations available to even the most modest enterprise.

Develop a culture of communication

Working from home and hybrid working have forced us to rethink our work and office cultures. To prevent staff from feeling isolated from their colleagues, a culture of picking up the phone (or calling on Teams/Slack) needs to be fostered. We have more communication tools at our disposal than ever before - make sure your team is using them.

Your staff will be the drivers of this change, but only with encouragement from management. Periodically ask your team: could that email have been a Teams message? Would a video call have solved that issue faster?

Don’t fear the negative effects of new tech espoused by some office traditionalists. A June 2020 study by Forrester concluded that, far from being an office gossip tool, Microsoft Teams has made office workers more productive. The study found that almost nine in ten (88 per cent) of employees say using Teams helps them save time and reduce frustration. In the age of hybrid and remote working, this is a figure that can’t be ignored.

Don’t let an increase in size lead to a decrease in flexibility

It’s an age-old problem - how do you push for growth while maintaining the speed and agility of a small business? There’s no easy answer, but with effort and a firm vision you can find the right balance. Introducing tech that allows employees to work effectively and without getting bogged down by issues like slow internet speeds is key to any growing business. You won't be able to quickly respond to challenges (or opportunities) if you’re sitting on hold, trying to get through to your broadband provider!

This is also the first reason (we’ll go into a second one later) to adopt cloud technology. If you want to maintain the agile ‘work anywhere, anytime’ culture of a start-up you’ll need a cloud system to support it.

Embrace and promote hybrid working

The pandemic has completely changed how (and where) we work. 88% of employees now say they are in favour of working from home for at least part of the week. Don’t fight this change – embrace it. Find technical solutions to help employees perform from anywhere, such as cloud storage and fast broadband for video calling. Your staff – both current and future – will thank you for it.

Invest in the RIGHT technology

Is your CMS right for your type of website? Do you need an effective HR tool to manage your growing workforce? Does your broadband package meet your staff’s needs? Is your office internet reliable enough to speak to those important overseas clients?

These are the questions you need to be asking yourself. You might be concentrating on growth and celebrating success but ignore the future at your professional peril. Get the right tech in place now so you don’t run into issues with outdated programmes or systems later. Of course, this tech can't be used effectively if a slow internet connection is throttling your upload and download speeds. As your Mbps usage increases, your internet speeds will also have to improve, which leads us to our next point.

Future-proof your broadband network

Fast broadband is an absolute necessity for any enterprise looking to scale up. Switching to Fibre Broadband is a good move, but make sure you’re getting a Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) network, rather than a Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) set up. The latter will bring fibre to your street, but the connection to your home or building will still be completed with old copper wiring, leaving you with sub-standard broadband speeds and an increased risk of the connection dropping out. Only Fibre to the Premises networks can guarantee a lightning-fast Full Fibre connection right into your building, and allow you to properly use the tech mentioned in the previous section.

Be aware that the UK is moving away from copper broadband wiring, so expect it to be completely obsolete in the next decade or so. Studies are already showing how the UK’s copper network will not be able to support the next generation of high-speed internet connections. Make the change to Full Fibre broadband now to effectively future-proof your business.

Swish Fibre offer Full Fibre, bespoke broadband packages to suit any business needs. Fast, reliable internet speeds are essential to any growing organisation, especially if you’re hoping to consolidate a vision for the future of your business.

Register your interest in Full Fibre broadband or speak to one of our team on 0800 0489 415 to see how we can help future-proof your business.