Facebook Financial, transcriptions in Word, and eight other developments in technology this past month, and how they’ll impact your clients and your firm.
1. TD rolls out online accounting for small biz
Why this is important for your firm and clients: Next up: Banks buying accounting software companies. Kind of makes sense, right?
2. Microsoft launched a new transcription feature for Word
Why this is important for your firm and clients: This could be a game changer, because think about it: If you or your employees just want to talk into Word how do you do it now without a third-party product? I foresee small-business owners using this as a way to dictate memos, write proposals and even create blog posts for their companies in a much faster way. I predict that the functionality will become advanced enough to recognize our commands with 99.99 percent accuracy and allow us to jump around existing documents. I also see this becoming a fantastic tool for disabled employees and workers performing field service. But will it replace the keyboard? (Note: My company is a Microsoft partner.)
3. Facebook has formed Facebook Financial
Why this is important for your firm and clients: Social brands like Facebook will continue to make a big push to keep their small-business users on their sites by offering more capabilities for selling, engaging and collecting cash. I foresee a time when a small business will be doing all of its business just on Facebook because of all the tools available.
4. Chrome will soon let you know if a web form is unsecure
Why this is important for your firm and clients: This will first affect mobile Android users. But ultimately, it’ll expand to every Chrome user. And ultimately Microsoft Edge, Firefox and Safari will do the same. This is a wakeup call for you to check your website’s forms and make sure they’re complying with the latest security protocols.
5. E-commerce is booming, all thanks to the pandemic
Why this is important for your firm and clients: COVID-19 only accelerated what was already happening: People are buying their stuff online and unless a business is an “experience” — a bar, restaurant, salon or other service — it’s going to need to make sure it has an online strategy, because brick and mortar is probably not going to cut it. Also of note is Walmart’s meteoric online rise and how it’s now challenging Amazon. Maybe your clients can do the same — if they’ve got a few hundred million dollars lying around to invest.
6. Google lets retailers customize product info in search results
Why this is important for your firm and clients: Some of the features include giving retailers the option of whether a picture appears with their product search, length of information displayed, image size, or keeping certain information from showing up in an initial search at all. Smart retailers looking to leverage their search engine optimization will be jumping on these new features.
7. Most consumers abandon a slow-loading ecommerce site
Why this is important for your firm and clients: How fast are your clients’ e-commerce sites? If your clients are selling products online you better make sure it’s fast. Very fast.
8. The best wireless earbuds and Bluetooth headphones for phone calls
Why this is important for your firm and clients: Everyone is using this stuff and maybe you’re paying for it as a perk. If that’s the case, then the top pick for best-sounding true wireless earbuds is the Momentum True Wireless 2 by Momentum which cost $300. The top spot for noise-canceling headphones went to Sony’s WH-1000XM3 at $350. Lastly — costing $249 — the best true wireless noise canceling headphones went to the Apple Airpods Pro.
9. Boeing 747s are still using floppy disks. Yes, floppy disks
Why this is important for your firm and clients: Before you freak out, I actually kind of understand this, mainly because many of my small-business clients do the same. Despite all the experts who urge that we always use the latest technologies, there’s a reason to stick with the old stuff: If it works, don’t break it. Perhaps the cost/benefit of changing out these archaic floppy disk systems isn’t worth the effort. That’s a question for Boeing to answer. But countless small-business owners use this rationale when they decide where to spend their investment dollars. And in many cases, the decision to stay with older tech makes better sense if the ROI can’t be justified.
10. Income verification startup helps property managers during the crisis
Why this is important for your firm and clients: If your clients are in the property management business, this is a tool to consider. When a potential tenant applies for an apartment, the company’s software will link to the bank account belonging to the applicant in order to examine and organize their deposit data into a single report focusing detailing income. The software also has the capability to be integrated with online rental applications.
Note: Some of these stories also appeared on Forbes.com.