Many start-ups have created innovative services or applications that left their mark in 2012. Read on to see which of these start-ups’ services that you could adopt to help your business make an impact in 2013.
By the myBusiness techblog team
2012 was an outstanding year for technology, with many start-ups making waves and gaining prominence through their business services and products. Let’s take a closer look at some of these start-ups, and how they can help you enhance your business growth.
Dropbox
Simply put, Dropbox is a cloud-based storage provider and file synchronisation service. It allows users to upload and share their files from any computer or device through an Internet or mobile connection. With an easy-to-use interface, small application space constraint and even free personal accounts, it has becoming one of the web’s most valuable start-ups. With Dropbox, you can sign up for an account and start uploading files to help your mobile sales when they meet clients, or share working files among your workers for increased collaboration and productivity.
Instagram is an online photo-sharing and social networking service for mobile devices. The app’s main feature is to allow users to apply filters to their photos and then upload and share them over social media networks. So popular is this service, that Facebook has recently acquired Instagram – making it one to look out for this year. You could use Instagram as a visual marketing tool, helping you connect to your clients and customers, especially when you pair it with other online platforms such as Pinterest and Facebook.
Square
Square is an electronic payment service that allows users to accept and make credit card payments via their mobile devices. As installing the app is effortless, many start-ups and entrepreneurs have adopted its use. A major milestone was achieved by the company when Starbucks announced in August last year on its decision to adopt Square as a form of transaction for its customers, making this a hugely lucrative deal for Square, with the coffee chain’s decision to invest a hefty sum of $25 million into this service. A localised version of this service that is currently targeted at Business to Business (B2B) companies is Swiff.
Eventbrite
Eventbrite is a ticket service provider that helps event organisers manage their events, such as setting up ticket sales, and promote their events on popular social media platforms. Its focus on social media has helped fuel the company’s growth, allowing it to achieve gross ticket sales of more than $600 million in 2012. Existing online and with an easy-to-use interface, you can easily create and sell tickets to your own events – eliminating the hassle and complexity of manually creating an event website from scratch.
As you plan ahead for your business this year, you shouldn’t be afraid to try out brand new technologies and services like those mentioned above. Given the high affordability of these services, you might find that they can truly help increase your productivity and ultimately, your profitability, this year.
Do you use any of the above-mentioned services, and have interesting experiences to share? Let us know of your thoughts in the comment box below.