Is Technology Changing Businesses
Ever since the Industrial Revolution, drastic leaps in technology always change the way we live in more ways than we initially anticipate. The introduction of the telephone not only let us communicate across longer distances but impacted the way people relate to one another socially on a much larger scale. We no longer had to see one another in person, which eliminated things like body language from the equation and gave people an additional veil behind which they can hide. This is the trend and ideally, we will be prepared for these changes instead of playing catch up. The same ideas apply to technology and business today.
Technology is intended to make our lives easier, but like most things, it is a double-edged sword. Now that technology is omnipresent and constantly changing, how to we reconcile older business practices with new developments? Should we even care about the values of the past or focus more on anticipating those of the future? IT departments did not exist 30 years ago as they do now. Below are 3 major ways that technology has impacted business.
- Staying Connected: It is much easier to stay in touch with people due to the rise of the social media and mobile technology, and most business have taken full advantage of this. Meetings and conference calls can take place almost anywhere because of the internet. In turn, this results in less down time for employees and higher expectations of commitment in certain industries. People can now work on vacation and even have a face-to-face meeting via video chat. With the 24 hour news cycle, information now comes in real-time and many companies (especially those that are client based) are expected to reply with equal promptness regardless of where they are located or what time it may be.
- Business Models: For many years, business models remained the same. This is no longer the case. Many once steady industries now go through regular turmoil over the years trying to adjust. It no longer makes sense to resist adaptation, but instead anticipate it. Technology cycles have become so short that it leaves businesses little time to make decisions and plan. This leads many businesses to panic and spend less time experimenting and innovating. Models must change and be open to collaboration simultaneously in response to and anticipation of technology changes. Unfortunately this can be a difficult balance to strike.
- Customer Base: The ideal customer base for most businesses used to be older individuals who had accumulated some level of wealth. That has now changed given the rise of younger entrepreneurs and the growth of youth culture. Businesses, and even the economy as a whole, are identifying Millennials as the driving force behind business and their practices. This group will soon represent approximately 50% of the American workforce with the most money to spend, the fewest financial responsibilities, and a mindset of living in the present. This is the group responsible for the rise of the digital age as the did not know a world before the internet. They are the reason that technology is so integrated in business as well as the rest of the world as they live in the overlap between knowledge base and target consumer. The writing seemed to be on the wall, but any smart business will take this as a lesson on how to anticipate the market trends and the change in customer bases.
With 25 years in operation, Accu-cut has seen these changes and successfully adjusted to all of them. That is how we can offer you the best prices on carpet-cutting machines no matter where you are located around the world. Contact us today to find out more about our services and what we have to offer.