Launching new expansions for your business is an exhilarating feeling. More markets, greater potential, and new opportunities all call for your attention. However, every business owner knows for a fact that the choices you make in technology during the expansions can make or break you.

Start With What You Actually Need

Many companies make the mistake of overstretching themselves with high-end technology systems, which eventually proves counterproductive. Yes, costly software packages tend to look appealing, but do they actually solve the problems for your business? Smart expansion means purchasing technology that knows how to grow with your business.

A good example of this would be a modest retail chain that intended to establish five new locations. Instead of purchasing an enterprise solution, which was intended for companies ten times their size, they could have upgraded their point-of-sale systems gradually. The result was a miserable six months of training, confused employees, and long wait times during checkout for customers. Sometimes, the simpler option is the much more effective option.

Don’t Overlook the People Involved

Let us focus on something that may affect the growth of business: new systems and the people who need to use them. It may come as a shock, but IT professionals like Opkalla typically start with user training before applying new systems. Employees are a company’s source of information, and their feedback will reveal the tools that require improvement. What modifications to processes and systems will ease their workload? Involving employees during the decision-making process encourages them to take ownership of their roles and might reduce absenteeism.

The Simpler, The Better

Growing a business often triggers a rethink in operational strategies. Unfortunately, while many think security will no longer be a challenge at that stage, expanding a business actually poses greater risk in both physical and digital security. New locations with countless new employees create more opportunities for potential breaches, both digitally and physically. These breaches can include exploitation by hackers, data loss or even insider threats.

The truth, however, is that businesses cannot afford military-grade protection in the early stages. That said, many potential damages can be avoided with basic protection such as strong passwords, robust backups, employee training to spot phishing emails and thorough security checks with all new employees. Though these habits can be strengthened afterwards, the security breaches that occur will definitely be more harmful.

Integration: Streamlining Operations

Picture the following nightmare scenario. Your sales system doesn’t talk to your inventory system, which doesn’t connect to your accounting software. Your staff spends hours entering the same information three times. You never have accurate figures about what’s actually happening in your business.

Choose systems that work together from the start. Ask tough questions about how different software packages will share information. A little extra planning now prevents major headaches later.

Timing Your Tech Investments

It is probably best to avoid the mistake of upgrading absolutely everything all at once prior to expansion. Adopt changes incrementally so that you can evaluate what works and correct what doesn’t. Implementing additional technology at the same time new locations are opened doubles the workload and increases the risk of errors to new heights.

Conclusion

In its most basic form, technology is created to ensure that expansion is simpler compared to managing a single branch. Secondary objectives in this scenario would most likely include all the additional expenses. The most successful brands spend judiciously, ensure proper training, and implement expandable systems. Like any other strategic plan, the tech strategy should also be well thought out. Take your time and be thorough; your future self will appreciate it.