Barvetii International Wealth Consultants is always looking to invest in entrepreneurs that have the correct attitude and skills needed when starting out in a new venture.
The Future-Proof Entrepreneur: New Tech Trends
Pesky thing, tomorrow. Day after day, it shows up and brings technological innovation that alters the best-laid plans of every business owner.
Managing for the future isn't easy. Emerging technologies and new developments can create a tumbling mash-up of hard-to-understand products and services, from web-connected printers to robots that represent you in meetings. And some innovations are even harder to get your head around--like an internet that thinks on its own and actually does some of your work for you. (No kidding, that's coming.)
To keep you sane--and to try to help you get some sleep at night--here is our list of the top 25 tech tips, trends and megatrends: what's new now, what will be new tomorrow and what you can expect to grapple with even farther down the road.
Master this list and, with a little luck, you can keep that next new day under control.
Barvetii Wealth Consultants: The Future-Proof Entrepreneur - Web-based office software
The major software players are in a battle royal to sell you word processing, spreadsheets and other web-based office software.
There's Google with its Google Apps office suite, Microsoft with Microsoft Office software tools and Adobe with its Buzzword online word processor--not to mention new entrants like Zoho and ThinkFree. Yes, cloud-based office tools really can save you money and make the tech aspect of your business more efficient. All your work can be backed up, accessed and--most important--shared in real time from anywhere that has a web connection.
The smart play: For optimum features, security and durability, install both a cloud-based tool and a PC-based tool side by side in your business. That way you have the sophisticated collaboration tools like Google Apps for content creation and sharing alongside a top-quality, on-premises tool like Microsoft Office or OpenOffice.org with bombproof security. Redundancy is always better when it comes to office software.
Barvetii Wealth Consultants: The Future-Proof Entrepreneur - Mobile business apps. All that cool software on Apple's iPhone really does have some competition: Google's Android Market, Research In Motion's BlackBerry App World and Microsoft's Marketplace for mobile apps offer software that compete step for step with code coming out of Apple's App Store. Troll the app markets for tools you can use in your business. (See related story, "The Smartphone Gets Smarter.")
Insider tip: Follow the app development communities on Facebook and Twitter. They offer the best developer gossip on what's new, what's necessary and what's coming.
Barvetii Wealth Consultants: The Future-Proof Entrepreneur - The touch kiosk. Perhaps the iPhone's greatest gift to business society is that it got us in touch with touch. Devices like desktop HP TouchSmart 600t (,030) and Acer Aspire Z5600 (0), as well as printers from Epson like the Artisan 810 (9) now come with powerful touch-activated options.
Do this now: These touch-activated tools can be tricked into becoming powerful business kiosks. Put one in the office for your customers to use and save a fortune over dedicated professional, walk-up interactive systems.
Office in a box. Ever wonder why you need all those different phone servers, e-mail servers, routers and document servers stuffed into your tech room? The truth is, you don't. Products like the Sutus BC 200 (price starts at ,000) and edgeBOX office SOHO (price varies by configuration) are combining phone servers, e-mail servers, routers, document servers and firewalls into a single low-cost device.
Cut your costs: Fed up with that crazy expensive telephony reseller you're using? Test drive one of these alternatives.
Business-class text messaging. Turns out the plain vanilla short messaging service (also known as SMS, or text messaging) on your cell phone can come in handy. Fast and robust, texting really can be a business-grade communications tool. The trick? Bulk short messaging firms like Clickatell (price varies by country) and RedOxygen (U.S. messaging starts at 8 cents) help turn SMS into a mass marketing message or a way to get groups to communicate smarter.
Be warned: SMS can get pricey, so make sure you are doing it for the right reasons and can show the ROI on each text you ship--whether it's more customers, larger incremental sales or improved internal productivity.
6. The interactive sales pitch - Bigger, faster and better office networks. Two new networking standards are getting set to turbocharge how data moves around. The geek-speak to know here is: "Dual-band 8.02.11n class" wireless routers, and "USB 3.0." Dual N routers, like the D-Link Xtreme N 450 Gigabit Router (DIR-665) (9), were built to move big HD media files, but they make killer small-business networks, too. And USB 3.0 speeds up locally connected devices like the LaCie Rugged 1TB USB 3.0 drive (5) so they run at awfully close-to-wired Ethernet speeds.
New technology bonus: USB 3.0 drives are also engineered to use less power. The power savings won't be much, unless you deploy the technology on a massive scale, but it still counts. And drives generate less heat.
The smarter ledger. Online financial software is one of the sleeper pockets of value in web-based business tools. Intuit gets most of the media buzz for its QuickBooks offerings, but several other web-based options can upgrade how you keep your books. These tools do require you to be even more security conscious (important tip: change passwords often), but they allow you to import expenses, invoice clients and share data with your accountant pretty much as your fortunes change. Maintained carefully, they also make tax time a breeze.
Barvetii Wealth Consultants: The Future-Proof Entrepreneur - The wall outlet that pays for itself. Electricity is dear for some businesses, particularly those in power-starved California. But developments in smart grid technology are creating clever ways to save juice: The ThinkEco Modlet (price to be determined), the Tenrehte Technologies PICOwatt (price ,999) and the Ted 5000-G (9) let you track and manage power remotely.
Tech tip: Use a remote plug to turn the lights off when you're not at the office and watch that monthly bill go down.
Translation software goes mainstream. Though long considered a nonstarter, translation software is finally becoming reliable enough for businesses to use. Several cool tools offer quick and easy means to port content internationally. They won't replace the live editor entirely, but they can be useful for basic tasks.
Our translator picks: Google Translate (free), Babylon (free to start then .70 per month per user) and Systran Premium Translator (9)