Faculty of Management Studies

Institute of Rural Management

Jaipur

Assignment
Entreprenuership & Small Business Management
(New trends and Technologies)

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Ms. Sonika Tyagi Bhonesh Sharma
Faculty PGDM-BM
FMS-IRM
New trends and technologies in Entreprenuership and small
business management
The early 20th century was all about science, when the most renowned names – Albert
Einstein, Marie Curie, Max Plank, Edwin Schrödinger, Neil Bohr, and others – were all
scientists.

Fast forward 100 years to early 21st century and it all seems to be about technology where the
most popular names are all tech entrepreneurs – Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg,
Bill Gates, Jack Ma, and so on.

We are living in the era of entrepreneurship, and the growth of entrepreneurship produces
new jobs and creates new opportunities to improve infrastructure for better quality of services
and life; thus, is in the best interest of every country’s economic growth.

As a matter of fact, in past few years, many governments have launched initiatives to support
entrepreneurship in their respective countries. While such initiatives are a very welcoming
change, policymakers & entrepreneurs also need to be aware of the technologies that will
create the most opportunities in future.

Here are Some technologies that are currently piloting the growth of entrepreneurship and
creating new industries altogether along the way.

 Internet of Things(IOT)
What used to be science fiction a few decades ago, even a few years ago, has now turned into
reality with the internet of things (IoT).

Smart refrigerators that know whenever you are running out of milk and order the usual
quantity from nearby store; smart grills that let you know when your food is cooked the right
amount; smart homes that turn on lights, AC, TV with your favorite channel just before you
return from office; and so on.

There are thousands of ways in which the IoTs have made our lives easier, and there are
thousands of more ways in which they still could. The sheer amount of opportunities this
technology offers is also reflected in the fact that IoT startups funding is on constant rise.
And it is estimated that the IoT sector will receive about $4.8 trillion in investment over the
next 5 years.

 Wearable
From portable to pocket-able and now to wearable, technology has taken giant leaps in recent
decades to become an inseparable part of our life, or should we say ‘of our body’.

In past couple of years, there have been many incidences when wearable devices have saved
people’s life (specifically, by alerting them of their abnormal heart rate). Besides healthcare
monitoring, wearables are extensively used for safety & tracking purposes. But the most
exciting uses of wearables appear when they are coupled with other emerging technologies
like AR/VR & Neuroscience.

VR headsets are already commonplace (at least on the internet). Smart glasses are also on
their way out of the research labs. And with Neuroscience, it seems like there’s a whole new
dimension of wearable technology applications.

 Artificial Intelligence (AI)

In 2001, Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence gave us sneak peeks into
the future of artificial intelligence & robotics. Now, 16 years later, we may not have reached
the point where the movie’s plot was based (much to Elon Musk’s relief), but AI as a
technology has gone through some major improvements.

Primarily based on machine learning, AI is already making our lives easier & exciting –
whether it is through Tesla’s self-driving smart cars, Apple’s Siri, or through home assistants
by Amazon, Google, & now Apple.

Besides these, AI is being extensively used for fraud detection, for personalizing shopping
experience & customer support in the ecommerce sector, and so on.

The development in the AI arena, though, is actually driven by hundreds of startups, which
are collectively exploring what we can do with this futuristic technology. And it is evident in
the number of AI-based startups which had been acquired by tech giants in past few years (as
shown in the chart below).

 Drones
Tesla Motors is currently in the limelight for being on the verge of revolutionizing the
transportation industry with better & affordable electric cars. However, an entirely different
& probably even bigger transportation revolution is also in the happening – drones.

Today, drones are being extensively used for good deliveries across the globe. Its other
applications include firefighting, search & rescue operations, agriculture, filming remote
locations – all of which previously required helicopters/cranes and considerably more human
efforts. Plus, in past few months, there also have been some rapid developments in the area of
flying cars (such as EHANG 184) for personal transportation, which are essentially based on
the drone technology.

Besides commercial uses, drones are also popular among masses for leisure activities,
especially photography. Being relatively affordable & easily accessible, drones qualify
for everything a product needs for mass adoption

The drones are coming, and entrepreneurs will leave no stone unturned to capitalize on this
technology.
Technological trends to drive Small business growth
 Use of Robotics for Automation
Up until now, leading companies are embracing AI to perform redundant tasks and to process
large amounts of data not to root out human interaction, but to enhance it actually. The use
of autonomous interfaces, for instance, Chatbots or Digital Agents are on the rise nowadays.
It is expected that they will take over the lion's share of the workforce in near future. This is
obviously going to be a big deal for the small business's cost reduction strategy.

Apparently, the use of Robotics for a small business may seem bewildering at first due to its
high cost. However, as the price of electronic components is on the wane, Robots will be
widely employed in businesses.

 ERP(Enterprise Resource Planning) Solution as a promising Small

Business Technology
ERP solutions are recently gaining even more popularity, especially in case of small and
medium businesses. Managing Human Resource and Customer Relationship and Accounting
may demand an astounding amount of money. But, you can facilitate and automate your
business management with just a mere software.There are numerous ERP solutions out there
that could supercharge your small business and help your business to achieve an end to end
efficiency.

 Secured online payment methods as prominent Small Business

Technologies
In the primitive ages, there were no currencies and so people were used to doing barter trade
(exchange of things for the other things) instead. Later on, not only various types of
currencies (such as Banknotes and Coins) were introduced but also they were developed in
such a way so that they could prevent forgeries or counterfeits as well.

However, in modern times, electronic payment method and electronic money transfer have
minimized all the risks of frauds like counterfeits or forgeries. For example,
people, nowadays, shops around with just a Visa or MasterCard or even in some cases NFC
enabled phones and they don’t need any cash money for payment anymore. So, it is possible
to fight shy of the snatchers, counterfeit notes or things like that.

One study revealed that Americans are now shopping online more than ever with a staggering
79% of the total population. A few examples of the most popular methods for online
payments are PayPal, Stripe, Skrill, Google Wallet, WePay, 2Chekout,etc.

 Rise in video marketing as a Trending Small Business Technology

No matter what type of business you own, it is now imperative to get a great deal of exposure
to your business on the internet. A decade ago, only popular media of advertisements
 Were Television sets, Radio sets and Newspapers. But, in recent times, your targeted
customers are prone to surf the internet and do a lot of research before making a purchase.
However, customers would love to interact with the commercial ads that you want to
broadcast in the media. Fortunately technologies like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc. have
made it possible. If you are a small or medium business owner, you can stream live videos
regarding your products on the internet. Your customers will interact with you through Likes,
Comments or Messaging.

 Remote workforce with the help of Online Services

A certain place was the bare minimum for operating an office. However, through the
advancement of technology, it is now 100% possible to launch a business whose activities
will be performed virtually. With the help of online services, your personnel can work
remotely from anywhere. An online virtual office is a neat tool for cutting costs because you
don't have to pay for office rents.

For example, Team viewer is such a piece of software as is often used to monitor and
manipulate staffs who are working from a remote place.

 Digital marketing as Small Business Technology

Digital marketing has rapidly evolved into its own dynamic industry. It is a cost-effective
marketing strategy which can skyrocket the growth of small businesses with just a matter of
few days. Frankly, digital marketing is useful for all kinds of businesses ranging from small,
medium and large businesses.

It includes Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing (SMM), Email
Marketing, Content Marketing and many more! If you overlook Digital marketing for your
small business, it is highly likely that your business is going to stumble in the days to come.

 Affiliate marketing as Small Business Technology

Affiliate marketers promote the products of others in exchange for a certain amount of
commission. Like digital marketing, it also includes SEO, SMM, Email Marketing and
Content Marketing.

Though this concept is not contemporary yet a number of business organizations are now
unprecedentedly pursuing affiliate marketers. Small businesses and start-ups often fall in fish
out of water condition because they want to ramp up their sales and establish business
goodwill at the same time on a shoestring budget. This is exactly where Affiliate program
comes to the rescue.