Many seasonal businesses are taking advantage of cloud technology. Here’s how the cloud can transform seasonal businesses for the better
As The Byrds used to sing: “Everything turn, turn, turn. There is a season turn, turn, turn.”
Seasonal businesses take everything in turn as their vitality relies heavily on their ability to thrive during only one part of the year. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates there are more than seven million businesses nationwide that employ 135 million part-time and seasonal workers.
Resource planning is similarly crucial as organization need to plan for ‘ramp up’ and ‘wind down’. How will you find seasonal labor, manage your resources and assist your customers in such a brief time?
In short there is a lot to think about when managing a seasonal business which is why some companies are taking advantage of cloud technology to better assist with organizational needs. Below are just a few ways the cloud can transform seasonal businesses for the better.
Take a look at a few ways the cloud can transform seasonal businesses for the betterClick To Tweet
Data Storage
Businesses thrive on information, but long gone are the days of filing cabinets and folders. Instead, organizational heads and managers prefer to save their most important data to a secured cloud. This way, authorized persons can access vital information from any device at any time.
What’s even better is that investing in cloud storage helps keep operating costs low by reducing the number of on-premise databases to manage. If you run a flexible seasonal business, you’ll want a nimble cloud data storage solution to match.
Enterprise Resource Planning
Still, having all this information means little if you can’t put it to use. An effective enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution aids the survival of your business by mapping the profitable peaks and valleys of your seasonal business. Most platforms provide easy-to-read graphs documenting your return on investment and fixed overhead costs, along with data necessary to managing every arm of your business from a single interface.
Some providers allow users to make ERP changes for their needs at any time, which is perfect for seasonal businesses. Not to mention that flexible ERP solutions, like Kenandy, ramp up fully in weeks — not years — so you can see the value of ERP almost immediately.
Clear & Consistent Communications
Hiring interim labor can be tough (although, admittedly, some people prefer temporary positions), but once you have everyone on board, it’s time to train your team for the challenges ahead. To make matters worse, you may not have a lot of time to educate your workers; so the last thing you’ll want to struggle with is teaching everyone to use various clunky phone and computer systems.
Simplify the process using cloud unified communications (UC). There are plenty of clear and consistent UC solutions that will get all your workers on the same page without the need for time-intensive training sessions. Even better is that some solutions can be used across devices so you can video chat with partners, record meetings or simply share necessary updates with all your team members via desktop or mobile device.
Robust Web Hosting
Can your website handle the weight of increased online traffic? While seasonal web traffic is predictable, many company websites crash due to an overwhelming flood of interested users. Increased attraction may be a good problem to have, but not when it prevents customers and clients from reaching your services. If you are concerned about your digital infrastructure, load testing is one way of measuring the resiliency of your site.
Thankfully, the cloud is extremely malleable to fit the demands of your business. Say you need to ready yourself for a vast influx of ecommerce shoppers around Black Friday or are hoping to shore up your online operations for a flood of summer room requests for your beachside resort — the cloud has you covered. If you want web hosting that won’t fold under pressure, it might be time to move to the cloud.
While the cloud is remarkable, there is no perfect solution. Every business will need to address its needs with a little experimentation. So, whether you use cloud storage, an ERP solution or unified communications for your organization, it’s important to ask yourself what benefits are most necessary for you and your teams.
