February 7, 2023

5 ways Microsoft 365 can help small businesses to succeed

In today's digital world, small businesses are competing in a global marketplace with fewer resources than their larger competitors. Microsoft 365 is one such tool that can help small businesses survive and even thrive. From collaboration tools to automation of recurring tasks and more, Microsoft 365 provides an all-in-one solution for helping small businesses get the most out of their resources. In this article, we'll discuss five ways that Microsoft 365 can help small businesses succeed in today's challenging market.

Enhanced mobility

Small businesses need to be able to move fast and adapt to change quickly. That's why, no matter where your staff is working from, they can securely access and connect to Microsoft365 from any device. Contacts, emails, documents and calendars can all be accessed from a PC, laptop or even smartphone. In this way, your employees can continue to collaborate with colleagues in real time wherever they are. This increased level of productivity and flexibility can make all the difference for a small business trying to compete in today's market.

Increased Productivity

In today’s business world, time is money. The faster you can communicate with your team, the more productive you can be. Microsoft 365 uses cloud technologies so, not only employees can access from anywhere as mentioned above, but they can also work together quickly and easily by sharing documents, and projects, and communicating with one another. Tools like Power Automate enable your business to create automated workflows, send automatic reminders for past-due tasks and even move data between systems on a schedule. This will help your staff to work more efficiently by reducing the need for manual input and freeing up time to focus on other tasks.

Easy adoption

When it comes to technology, small businesses often face an uphill battle. They can't always afford the latest and greatest business applications and the worst feeling is discovering that your employees don't use it because it is difficult to understand. Microsoft Office 365 though, is widely recognised and applications like Outlook, Word and Excel are most likely used by your staff in their everyday life. Even for those without a lot of tech-savvy, Microsoft 365applications have an intuitive and user-friendly interface. This can guarantee a smooth transaction process and easy adoption.

Cutting costs

Small businesses often don’t have the same budget as their bigger competitor so keeping costs at the lowest is a must. Microsoft 365 offers plans to suit every need, even those of a small business with a limited budget. When keeping costs low, it is also important to remember that if Microsoft 365 is used at its maximum, it can help you cut costs of getting additional applications with repeated functionalities. At Electric IT, our team of experts can help you cut costs by training your staff on the best practices for heightened productivity.

Enhanced Security

Small businesses face many challenges, one of which is security. Microsoft 365 has enhanced security features in its products to help small businesses protect their data and intellectual property. These include multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add an extra layer of security to logins and data encryption to help protect your data and keep your business safe from cyber threats. For example, multi-factor authentication requires you to first enter your password and then, when prompted, type a dynamically generated verification code provided by the Microsoft Authenticator app or sent to the phone. This can help prevent undesired logins from unreliable sources.

Conclusion

Microsoft 365 offers small businesses a vast array of benefits to help them succeed. From increased productivity, faster communication and enhanced security, it makes a fantastic option for small businesses that want to thrive in today’s competitive market to get the most out of their resources. Are you ready to take your small business to the next level? Get in touch today and see how Electric IT can help you succeed.