If you happen to be a business owner, you've most likely had a couple of months where you worked yourself to the bone, served many clients, and still ended up with nothing more than a few dollars in the bank account. While this is considered "normal" nowadays, there sure are ways to make success at least a bit more affordable than it currently is.
Nowadays, businesses lose a lot of money on avoidable things such as human error, procedural delays, as well as fees paid to middlemen. Can you even imagine what will happen to your profits if you could just speed your business up, eliminate random mistakes, and kick those pesky middlemen straight to the curb? While these ideas may sound like just wishful thinking, they are quite possible. Making your business endeavor more efficient as well as more cost-effective by utilizing blockchain technology is an opportunity every business owner should consider.
So... what is blockchain?
Blockchain is the foundational pillar of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin - but it has far wider applications than just in cryptocurrencies, and it is changing the world as we speak.
Its digital ledger records transactions in a way that they cannot be tampered with. The information stored on it is linked and safeguarded using cryptography. Every bit of information on a blockchain network is quickly and easily verifiable, as well as accessible to anyone that wants to check it. People have already built blockchain applications that provide a wide variety of solutions you may use to improve your business. On top of that, you can create your applications on any blockchain platform to help improve not only yours but other people's business. For a general understanding of this technology find out more in our Blockchain Simplified article.
How to better your business by using blockchain technology
There are several ways you could use blockchain to further your business endeavors, with some of them being:
- Using Smart Contracts to avoid the middle man
- Pay your remote employees much faster while saving money in the process
- Accept safer and more transparent payments
- Getting to know your customer base better
- Better hiring process with transparency working for you
- Improving your marketing campaigns.
Using smart contracts
A smart contract is nothing but a self-executing contract with all parties' terms written directly into the blockchain. Smart contracts ensure that all parties in the agreement do exactly what they are supposed to. These self-automated contracts run without any downtime or interference of any third parties.
So how does using a smart contract ultimately help you make more money? Well, it makes sure you get paid once you deliver your end of the deal. On top of that, if the other party backs out from the project on short notice, your goods or services are returned to you instantly. This means that you would never have to use lawyers, government officials, or any other fee-charging middlemen to settle these disputes. Smart Contract's trustless nature makes it easy to work with parties you do not trust, as the code itself protects both sides.
Find out more about how smart contracts enable you to make deals online without a third party involved.
Using blockchain to pay your employees
While blockchain is a technology that can change many aspects of the economy, it started in finance with Bitcoin's creation. Therefore, it shouldn't be a surprise that Bitcoin (as well as other cryptocurrencies) can be used to pay employees.
Making crypto payments on the blockchain is incredibly beneficial when you have international or remote workers. Blockchain allows you to easily compensate your workers quickly (in less than an hour) without any of the outrageous transaction fees associated with traditional banking SWIFT wire transfers or remittance services.
Paying your employees using cryptocurrency may also help you save money in other ways. Having records of all your transactions on the blockchain makes it extremely easy and straightforward to track your company's cash flow, making you ultimately never miscalculate taxes. This makes paying taxes much less of a chore and more of an automated process.
Using blockchain to accept payments
While online transactions are safer than they have ever been, they still pose a significant danger to the user's confidential information. Using blockchain can help solve this problem, as all the payments are transparent, as well as tamper-proof.
The blockchain technology will help both verify and secure data without the involvement of any third party. Put simply, it lets you perform financial transactions without the need of any payment processor like a Bank, PayPal, or Credit Card.
Getting to know your customer base better
Blockchain can also be used for reliable identity management. Your customers, as well as your employees, would have digital IDs that make verifying their identity easy. If this information gets stored on a blockchain rather than by using traditional methods, it reduces the risk of fraud, money laundering, identity theft, as well as other cybersecurity concerns.
This also makes identifying loyal customers an easy task, learning more about their spending patterns while letting them manage their data.
Better hiring
Blockchain usage in the recruitment process is also becoming more evident. The technology effectively prevents candidates from using photoshop or other tools to build fake documents or portfolios. This also helps organizations with saving time required for verifying the submitted documents and hiring the potential candidate.
Improving your marketing campaigns
Good marketing is essential for every business. With the sheer number of businesses competing for attention in any branch of the economy today, it may be challenging to get your product or service to stand out to potential consumers. Companies are using everything they can when it comes to marketing, including social media posts, billboards, TV commercials, newspaper ads, as well as direct mailing as methods of promotion. However, blockchain may make your company's marketing efforts even more effective.
Blockchain can be utilized by marketers to track both client information and consumer behavior. With this data provided, skilled marketers can craft campaigns that are better suited to the market, and bring a greater return on investment. Blockchain also allows marketers to verify the quality of the traffic. It's much easier, better, and ultimately cheaper to lead marketing campaigns when your marketing stats are not inflated by bot activity.
Just the tip of the iceberg
Blockchain technology will take over many of the everyday processes that various businesses undertake. The examples we provided are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how blockchain can change or improve your business.
Asia and the Middle East are current industry leaders in blockchain development, but other parts of the world are quickly catching up. With it already being a reliable option for various traditional businesses, blockchain has proven to be a great asset when utilized properly. Here at Timacum, we believe that proper blockchain implementation in almost any business endeavor can either bring additional profits or at least reduce expenses, all while streamlining the processes already present in the company.
If you liked this article, check out our blog page, where you can find various articles covering blockchain, its real-world application, as well as practical info regarding how blockchain could improve your business.
