Small businesses relying on mobile/web apps

Each year, the average UK office worker loses approximately 21 hours per year due to unstable and sluggish technology – research shows that this can be longer than an employees’ paid holiday!

According to the research conducted by Intuit QuickBooks this is in comparison to the 59% wasting time in the US, 68% in Canada and 74% in Australia. For 44% of small businesses in the UK their priority is managing cash flow and in terms of applications being used 59% will use them for banking and finance, 49% use apps for payments and 37% use them for payroll. As well as issues with failing technology 31% of businesses are facing challenges with their competition and 30% are maintaining their customers trying to keep their business.

Europe VP and managing director of Intuit QuickBooks, Dominic Allon has commented;

“British entrepreneurs are ahead of a trend that is happening on a global scale” he continues, “small firms are well known for their creativity in how they grow their business; using digital tools to tackle their challenges head-on is key to their success.”

What makes a good app?

The research also revealed that business owners sway towards apps that effect the bottom line. Within the UK almost half (48%) who use these apps believe that the success of the app all depends on whether it will provide further revenue for their company whereas 66% appreciate the value when gaining data from apps.

Ahead of the businesses performance, 57% of small businesses will use apps because they are easy to use, 55% use them for security purposes, 38% use apps for their businesses privacy and security and 27% use them to gain trust.

With the smart tech businesses incorporating applications masses of volume they are not succeeding all the way, 40% feel like there are too many apps out there to choose from, they are also indecisive as they are unaware of which app matches their business the most. Surprisingly just 38% are worried about the cost of using the app, whether that is the incorporation or training that comes with it whilst 22% fear the complexity of the app is a raise of concern.

Allon continues;

“Applications are transforming the way small businesses operate in the UK, but choosing the right technologies for their needs is crucial. Business owners must start with identifying their biggest challenges, whether that’s controlling costs of finding good employees, and look for apps that seamlessly integrate to get the most value from their investments.”