As little as 5 years ago, the internet sales market was completely geared towards selling businesses on the benefits of speed. The speed of your internet connection was framed as a make-or-break factor for businesses, one that could be the difference between success and failure. Yet in the eyes of many consumers, we have hit an internet speed plateau. Now that most people use a broadband connection, pages appear seemingly instantaneously. The only reason speed supposedly matters anymore is to ensure that downloads and streaming work as efficiently as possible, and these are perceived as the worries of homes—not businesses. In the eyes of offices everywhere, paying extra for super-speed broadband might not seem worth the cost.
Yet in reality, the new malaise about opting for high-speed internet can be extremely damaging to businesses. There are a multitude of reasons why high speed is important for small businesses in this day and age. A robust internet service is crucial and is still as important as ever.
High speed internet for SMBs – Courtesy of Shutterstock
A larger internet
While the average speed of internet access is increasing, the internet itself is becoming ‘larger’—in the sense that files are often bigger than they were before. Web page are more detailed, files (especially HD video files) are contain more data and therefore getting it all down the line takes longer. While an office worker might not be watching NetFlix at their desk, it is likely they will be downloading data, emailing invoices with large spread sheet attachments and doing so much more work which requires high-speed Clear internet access. It is also important to differentiate between the needs of a home and the needs of an office. An office is more likely than a home to have dozens of people in need of using the internet at the same time, which eats up bandwidth and slows down speed. While a connection might promise to be 10mbps or above, the likelihood of seeing such a speed an office environment is very unlikely. Opting for speeding and more robust broadband such as fibre-optic broadband is therefore a good investment, and ensures that speed never gets in the way of works doing their jobs.
Getting workers remote
A newer and perhaps more crucial factor for businesses now is how to cope when employees are seemingly off the internet grid. While maintaining a steady office connection is important, one must also make sure that remote employs have access to high speed mobile internet like 4G as they travel. Enabling employees to work remotely is important and that is pretty impossible unless they have a steady connection to the office. 4G allows speeds compatible with business life and means that employees can upload and download documents and place calls with contacts whenever they need to do so.
Reaching across the globe
Almost all businesses are reliant on the internet is some way or another, and those that trade globally are even more tethered to their internet connection. Video-calling with customers and contacts hundreds or thousands of miles away is the bedrock of many businesses, so the last thing you want or need is to have an intermittent connection that drops calls and loses your business. Many businesses nowadays do not opt for a landline and instead use VoIP to run their business line, but such a money-saving tactic will not work unless you have an internet service that you can trust.
Small businesses need big internet
In short, it is small businesses that need all of the above help most because it is they that can suffer from just one missed deadline or one dropped call. Small businesses rely on every worker doing their job and doing it well, but you cannot ask your employees to complete a task without giving them the tools necessary to do so. The internet is only likely to grow in importance in years to come, so wise up to the approaching future and invest in a high-speed internet connect that keeps you wired to the future.
