Back in 1992 a 22-year-old test engineer sent the world’s first text message. Today, more than 8 trillion texts are sent each year and in October 2013 global users of Smartphones reached an astonishing 1 billion.
The Smartphone that sits comfortably in the palm of your hand has more computing power than it took to put the first man on the moon! You know how helpless you feel when you can’t access your emails? That shows how the business community has embraced email. It’s an integral and essential part of everyday business life.
And what’s the next ‘big thing’ that business owners and entrepreneurs need to face up to? It’s the challenge of Mobile and Smartphone technology.
It affects you – Now!
Some readers may think that responding to these changes in technology is somehow optional. In the sense that if you don’t respond, things will carry on as before.
But ‘normal’ doesn’t exist any more! The days of people visiting your website via a PC, for example, is disappearing fast. As you read this, mobile technologies are already having an impact on your business.
I mentioned earlier that global users of Smartphones are now in excess of 1 billion. A recent survey undertaken by Accounting Web and MyFirmsApp showed that over 85% of UK businesses relied on Smartphones for internal and external communication and as their primary route to the internet. Over 50% of local internet searches are carried out by a mobile device.
Let’s put all that into context.
Over half of the people visiting your website no longer view it through a PC or laptop. Instead, they are viewing your website through a Smartphone or tablet.
Have you visited your own website via a mobile to see what your clients and prospects see? Is it fast to load, simple to navigate and easy to contact you using it? If it isn’t, you are likely to be losing customers and potential customers hand-over-fist.
Your customers
The recent survey by Accounting Web showed that 85% of businesses used smartphone and Apps. That means it’s highly likely that your customers and potential customers are trying to communicate with you and your website using these devices. What your clients used to do by phone, PC or face-to-face they now do via an App. And if your business isn’t geared to this technology, they’ll transfer their business somewhere else – fast!
Agility is important
One of the hallmarks of a successful business is its agility. Flexible, open-minded directors and managers who are ready to embrace technological, commercial and economic changes and turn them to their advantage. In an uncertain world, if you can offer a response to the technological changes then your customers and potential customers will welcome it. Historically, agility may have meant adapting and responding over a period of months. It’s not like that anymore! Having technology at your fingertips 24-7 in real time, anywhere, means you have the ability to respond ultra-fast.
If you would like to discuss how you can prepare your business for the challenge of mobile and smartphone technology, please contact us here
IHTA Advisory is one of the very first accountancy firms in Melbourne to launch a mobile Tax App. The great news is this App can be downloaded free onto your iPhone, iPad or Android phones. It’s packed full of some really useful Tax Tables, Calculators and important dates all of which you will be able to access anywhere you have internet connection on your device.
Download the HTA App today!
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