There’s no doubt that all the new technology that has come online over the past few years has changed the way small businesses operate. More and more business owners are using the internet for day-to-day tasks, and to grow their businesses as well. Here are three virtual solutions you can use to help expand your small business, without the need to make a huge investment.
Go online
With so many e-commerce platforms around today, you no longer need a bricks and mortar storefront, with expensive overheads, in order to expand your business. You can set up an e-shop to sell your products or services. And with Paypal being an internationally recognized payment option, it’s possible to sell your products anywhere in the world.
Switch to the virtual fax
If you’re looking to grow your business, then you want to be spending money in key business areas, not on everyday tasks. Switching to a virtual fax service can save you the expense of a traditional office fax machine, as well as ongoing costs such as paper, toner and maintenance, which can quickly mount up.
With a service such as eFax, you set up an online account and get a fax number to send and receive from. You receive faxes as PDF or TIF email attachments, and you can send them via a mobile app or a web browser. It’s as quick and easy to send as an email, and arrives as a normal paper fax at the other end. You can even customize digital cover sheets and add a digital signature to important documents.
And because you can send and receive faxes on your smartphone, tablet or laptop, you can stay in touch and work from anywhere.
Everyone needs a virtual assistant
Hiring a personal assistant is a common wish for owners of small businesses. Being able to pass on administrative tasks, data entry and diary management can free up time that can be better spent on building your business.
But if you’re looking to expand, you might not have the budget for a fulltime assistant. Or, if you work from your own home office or are on the road a lot, it can be logistically challenging.
Enter the virtual assistant. A virtual assistant works from their own remote base and connects with you online, or via the phone. You can free up time and keep costs down by contracting a virtual assistant for a set number of hours a week, or to cover during a challenging short-term project.
It’s exciting to be working towards taking your small business to the next level. You can make the process easier by using these three handy virtual solutions.