Minority and Women-owned Small business firms and their Technology use trend
Technology plays major role in every business irrespective of the size of the firm. These firms use technology to identify prospects and leads to fill their pipelines, to connect with their audiences and customers online via social channels, to connect and collaborate with their employees internally, to visualize their data so the management can forecast, predict and take informed decisions, manage their administrative tasks and automate repetitive processes, enhance customer experiences to name a few.
Information Technology businesses and bigger enterprises have adopted to use state of the art technologies like AI, Blockchain, Predictive analytics, robotics very early on to keep up with the market demands and to stay ahead in the game.
With the advancements in SaaS, PaaS, cloud these state-of-the-art technologies are made very affordable and available to smaller businesses. While some of the small businesses has taken advantage and quickly adopted to these technologies, many still have a long way to go. For the purpose of this article, the latest technologies are categorized primarily as Artificial Intelligence, Cloud-Based, Specialized Software, Robotics and Specialized Equipment.
Technology Adoption by Industry
Below are the top 4 sectors in which the employer small business firms thrive(b) and what percentage of them have adopted to the new technologies in some form or the other. (a)
1.Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services – 26.86%
2.Construction – 13.72%
3.Health Care and Social Assistance – 25.38%
4.Retail Trade – 14.7%
The total average technology adoption for all sectors is at 18.7%
Technology Adoption by Minority and Women-owned Businesses. (c)
According to the recent ABS survey about 15.78% of Minority firms have adopted to latest Technologies compared to 19.18% of Non-Minority firms.
18.18% of women-owned firms have adopted to latest technologies compared to 19.14% of their male counterparts.
Top reason for Technology adoption (c)
44.07% of small business firms say the main reason they have adopted technologies is to improve, upgrade and optimize processes and methods. 24.72% say they implemented technology to help automate redundant processes. 20.64% say that the main reason they adopted technology is to expand the range of their service offerings. While 10.7% say they use technology to adopt standards and accreditations.
Most small businesses that have adopted latest technologies has seen significant growth. Companies that do not adopt to technological improvements is unlikely to thrive in the ever-demanding market place.
“Technology still hasn’t penetrated much of the everyday work performed by many Americans, which means that most businesses are missing opportunities for greater efficiency and better customer experience.” – Harvard Business Review
Source:
(a) https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/abs.html
(b) https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2021/annual-business-survey.html
(c) https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2019/econ/abs/2019-abs-automation-technology-module.html
