The increased use of smartphones, tablets, mobile devices, and technological tools has transformed the landscape for entrepreneurs interested in bringing their products and services directly to the consumer. Service-based brands can utilize mobile devices to effectively communicate and operate their businesses from virtually anywhere in the world. As you might imagine, these advanced capabilities opened the floodgates for potential revenue.

Although these advancements helped enhance mobile operations ranging from food trucks to construction companies, efficiently managing so many moving parts presented new challenges. Unless entrepreneurs are diligent in investing in technologies to streamline processes and monitor operations, providing quality customer service and generating revenue is nearly impossible. Fortunately, there are practical solutions to make things easier. Continue reading to learn more.

Quality Mobile Devices

Trying to operate your business utilizing personal or outdated devices is time-consuming and wasteful. It complicates processes ranging from communications and project management to marketing and customer service. Tasks like deciphering personal from business calls, prioritizing notifications, collaborating with teams, and accessing data are compromised.

Essentially, investing in quality mobile devices is a must. Companies should have designated laptops, tablets, and smartphones to manage day-to-day tasks. These devices should have various features and capabilities ranging from quality wi-fi connections to ample storage for an improved business function.

Technology Management Software

As businesses expand, they acquire more employees, mobile devices, phone plans, and equipment. Although necessary for mobile brands, these technological investments can quickly add up, causing them to underutilize and overspend on specific tools. As maximizing resources and saving money is vital to a company’s success, entrepreneurs are encouraged to invest in resources to manage their mobile expenses.

Technology expense management is a practical solution for small and large companies. It is a platform that enables business professionals to monitor device usage (or underutilization), spending, and services. By keeping up with devices, eliminating wasteful spending, and making informed decisions about mobile-related services, companies can save tons of money.

Collaboration Tools

Though mobile businesses often have a “home base,” their employees tend to work from various locations. Although this concept saves money on overhead costs, it causes confusion, slows productivity, decreases employee morale, and weakens customer service quality. Therefore, mobile enterprises should implement collaborative strategies to resolve these issues.

The increased use of mobile devices and the development of mobile and virtual businesses ultimately resulted in the development of digital collaboration tools for teams. These platforms enable authorized personnel to create, access, and share company data, delegate tasks, track progress and communicate more efficiently.

Employee Management Systems

Another problem with a mobile or remote workforce is managing employees. When personnel isn’t under the same roof, it is challenging to keep track of things ranging from recruitment and onboarding to payroll and productivity. Without department managers or human resource professionals there to monitor and evaluate employees, the quality of their work declines. Not to mention, back-end office tasks like reporting payroll and project management suffer.

Employee management systems are digital platforms that maintain databases with employee information, track employee hours, manage expenses, record and distribute payroll, and track individual and group progress. It enables entrepreneurs, supervisors, and HR personnel to oversee their remote teams seamlessly and efficiently.

Point-Of-Sale Software

Whether you’re a home improvement contractor, mobile massage therapist, or food truck owner, having a means for your customers to pay for your products and services is ideal. Each transaction also ties into other business functions, including marketing, accounting, and inventory management. That’s why most mobile business owners invest in Point-of-Sale (POS) systems to track everything from the moment the customer makes a purchase.

Such platforms typically include a connected device (tablet, laptop, smartphone, register), a credit card reader, a barcode scanner, and a receipt printer. When a customer purchases, the software calculates the total amount due, records the completion of the transaction, updates inventory, and records vital consumer data for improved marketing efforts.

Mobile businesses and remote workforces rely heavily on the use of portable devices to complete and manage tasks. Though such technological resources are essential to getting services directly to the consumer, connecting remote teams, and operating from virtually anywhere, being on the go comes with some challenges. Essentially, investing in tools like those listed above can make the process more manageable and improve your chances of success.