Hold onto your socks: Millennials are the most tech-savvy generation.
Okay, that’s really not so surprising. Born into the Information Age, most Millennials are digital savants compared to Gen Xers and Baby Boomers who have had to adjust and adapt to today’s technology.
But across generations, most small business owners agree: Keeping up with technology is important to stay competitive.
But the generations diverge on their technological confidence. Consider these findings from a survey of small business owners conducted by Ink from Chase, the business credit card from Chase. They highlight generational differences in attitudes and behavior:
- 87% of Millennial business owners believe they actually are successfully staying on top of technology advances.
- 66% of Gen Xers (those born in the mid-1960s to 1980) and Baby Boomers (1946 through 1964) reported that they are keeping up.
- 60% of Millennials view social media as an important tool to stay competitive, versus 44% and 46% for Gen Xers and Boomers, respectively.
Further, Millennial small business owners are more likely to describe themselves as feeling in control (35%) compared to Gen Xers (24%) and Boomers (29%), tied perhaps to tech proficiency.
Tech Tips for Small Businesses
So what should technology laggards do to bolster their proficiency in and use of it for business?
According to Laura Miller, president of Ink from Chase, “Small business owners must be equipped with the tools needed to make technological transitions as simple and smooth as possible, so they can remain nimble and focused on growth.”
Miller offers them these three technology tips:
Keep up with Your Business…. Even While on the Go
Mobile applications can do the job. Small business owners can take their office wherever they go by using apps designed for smartphones and mobile devices such as the Ink Mobile App, which helps track finances and manage business expenses in real-time.
Know Your Resources and Use Them
Leveraging existing resources can help small business owners keep up with technology. For example, Chase for Business offers customers a one-stop-shop for their financial management needs – from mobile and online banking to payment solutions for in-store, online or on-the-go transactions. These tools help keep business owners technologically up-to-date and their businesses on track for growth.
Put Security Front and Center
The payment technology landscape is changing quickly as owners seek increased protection from card payment hacking and consumer fraud. A key tactic is to update point-of-sale terminals to accept all types of Cardholder Verification Methods (CVM) –including EMV payment transactions, point-to-point encryption and tokenization.
Hipster Photo via Shutterstock
