According to the World Bank official data, the Philippines' GDP growth for 2012 is up to 6.6% -- higher than even Thailand and Indonesia that same year. On top of that, it climbed even higher for 2013, with numbers that suggest up to 7.2% of growth.
In light of these exciting facts, some finance experts say that this may the time for new entrepreneurs and small businesses to step up and take the stage. Despite these optimistic predictions, however, maneuvering the business world still needs a lot of hard work and more than just a dose of cleverness. Fortunately, because of significant technological advances today, you don't have to do everything on your own. There are tons of technology that can effectively assist you in your endeavor. Here are some you should be aware of:
E-Commerce
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One of the most important, and perhaps also the most popular, technological advances brought by the advent of computers and the internet are online shops. Today, you can be a hermit and still have access to almost any product in the world. In fact, many successful small businesses have started and some even continue to thrive online even years after their inception.
Reasons why many entrepreneurs set up online shops:
1. It's convenient. You can set up an online shop in just a few hours. In fact, you can set up shop first in one of your social network accounts. However, if you really want to set up a brand and a digital shopping cart with different modes of virtual payment, it would be best if you really set up an online shop with its own dedicated domain.
2. It doesn't need a big capital. You don't have to pay for shop space and buy enough merchandise to fill up that space before you can open shop. You can even set up shop without having any items in stock. This way, you only have to dish out capital for merchandise that already have buyers and you avoid having surplus items that you may never get any returns from.
3. It has a potentially wide reach. Online shops are not hampered by geography. As long as it can be found in cyberspace, any person from anywhere in the world can access it. So if you're willing to ship your items abroad, you can sell your products to not only local consumers but international ones as well.
Virtual Assistant
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Another amazing technological advancement that came with the world wide web is telecommuting. With just an online messenger, you can have client calls and conferences in the comfort of your own home office. However, since an enterprise can rarely be efficiently managed by one person, you would naturally need a helping hand to assist you. This is where a virtual assistant come in handy. A virtual assistant can help you out on a range of office work -- from handling client calls to managing your business schedule and even helping you with highly professional work such as bookkeeping and taxation. If you are looking for a virtual assistant, you should get in touch with Regus Philippines.
Internet Marketing
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Another important innovation in the digital age that business people should be acquainted with is online marketing. IT solutions may be very helpful to Cebu entrepreneurs but you need more than just a website to have a successful enterprise. To actually have any chance of competing in any industry, you should also make sure that your site (as well as your brand) gets maximum exposure. Without it, you will not be able to reach out to your target market and your brand will remain a relative unknown to consumers. Aside from making sure your business site ranks at the top of search engines for your niche, you can optimize your internet exposure through online ads, social media interaction and promotional emails.
The past couple of decades, Filipinos have witnessed the rise and fall of the Philippine economy. Today, the Philippines is showing signs of not just recovery but actual significant economic growth. If you want to be able to take advantage of the country's good fortunes, you can't just sit there and wait for lady luck to come to you. Get your business ideas out there and take the risk of making it work. With the help of these technological advances, who's to say you can't make any of your business endeavors a roaring success?
If you want to put up a small business in the Philippines and you don't know where to begin, you may check the official site of the Department of Trade and Industry.
Author Bio:
Regus Philippines is a global company that offers business solutions to small enterprises as well as large companies. Among the products they offer are serviced offices, meeting rooms, virtual offices, mobile workforce and workplace recovery services.
P.S. To those doing the 52 Week Money Challenge and 52 Week Money Challenge Version 2, it is Week 37 already! Did you deposit the next amount yet?
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