Virtualising your business through technology

This guide looks at ways in which you can use technology to make your business life easier, faster and more efficient. It then offers you a five-step process to help you identify and implement ways to work smarter.

What is a ‘virtual business’?
‘Virtual business’ and ‘virtual offices’ are business buzzwords you hear a lot these days. But what do they actually mean in practice, and how can the concept help small businesses in particular?

Broadly speaking, the concept of ‘virtualising’ your business means replacing traditional physical assets and processes with different ways of doing business. Usually, these new ways of operating are enabled by new technology, and Internet technology in particular. The Amazon.com model is probably the most widely known example of a virtual business model. Amazon sells books, but they have no bookshops - the Internet is used as the shop front instead.

But Amazon is just one example, and there are many ways that emerging technology can help businesses work in different, smarter ways. The benefit, particularly for smaller businesses with limited resources, is the opportunity to ‘virtualise’ their non-core business processes. In other words, it can free them to concentrate on what they’re really good at - the reason they’re in business in the first place.

Extending the technology you already have

The good news is that this doesn’t have to mean spending large amounts of money on highly complex technology. Often it’s a case of using technology you already have, and extending it a little to take full advantage of its capabilities.

For example, each month you probably have to pay suppliers, subcontractors, office supplies, office rental, accountant’s bills, and so on. If you’re not already using online banking, you can cut down considerably on the time you spend writing cheques by completing these payments online. Online banking is not new, but it remains a good example of how you can ‘virtualise’ the banking process. It allows you to bank electronically rather than having to write cheques or visit a physical bank branch. The process saves you time and effort that you can use on other things. Similarly, downloading bank statements straight into your accounting program (such as MYOB Accounting) eliminates manual data input, saving considerable time and reducing errors.

Most businesses already have a computer and Internet access so online banking allows you to use existing technology to streamline time-consuming business processes. Talk to your Business Banking Manager about how you can make better use of online banking.