Sean Mabey, Wells Fargo Small Business Banking:
Where does technology fit into small business? Does it help? Does it hinder? Talk about technology.
Ron Busby, President & CEO, U.S. Black Chambers Inc.:
I think technology, it really has changed the game a great deal. E-commerce is really the future. I can either be online, I can do total e-commerce, or I can work out of my home. Ninety five percent of our businesses aren’t brick-and-mortar type businesses. But that just brings on new opportunity as well as new challenges. So, I don’t think you have to necessarily be in a brick and mortar to have success. What we’re finding now is many of our business owners are selling their products and services in some of the larger box stories. And so, we have to make sure that we’re just being creative and we change with the times. And so for us, we’re telling our businesses a couple things. One, if you have a website, make sure that it’s bilingual. There are quite a few Americans that speak multiple languages and are going to go to your site, and make sure that they’re seeing that you’re friendly to them. I think that it’s got to be a diverse customer set, but I also think there are some challenges in the e-commerce conversation in that 40% of African Americans don’t have credit. So, you’re leaving out a huge population of folk that can’t buy your product if only you’re selling to them via some online internet base.
Mabey:
Where was technology for you in your evolution of your business?
Lindsey Braciale, Founder & CEO, Advocations:
Right. Yeah. So, I’ve always been really techy. So, I have a degree in computer science. So, I think that technology has always been very core to what we do because it made it easier for us to systematize processes that I didn’t need to outsource. And so, it saved us money in the long term by making a short-term investment. It also reduced barriers to entry. So, by having a mobile first website, we’re able to find people that are just searching for us.
Bob Marshall, Wells Fargo Small Business Banking:
At the end of the day, you don’t have to worry about just customers in Charlotte. You can extend beyond North Carolina, South Carolina. Now you have customers in California or overseas. And so, it really creates this sort of very competitive environment where I can now compete for business anywhere depending on what I’m doing because I have access to these people via technology.
Mabey:
So we’re talking really, social media. Where does social media fit in this? You talked about your app, which I would define as social media. It’s people coming together in a central place. Where does social media fit into this, and do you have to be on social media to be a successful small business owner? Where do you fall on social media?
Busby:
I don’t know if you have to be on social media, but I definitely believe it gives you a platform and an ability for you to market and sell your business. I think social media gives you a competitive edge. I don’t even know if it’s an edge anymore. I think if you’re not there, then you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage, and you only have clients that you can see face to face. What we’ve found over the last two years, and we just finished our survey, is that those firms that are doing $1 million and above, 95% of them are doing business in at least five states. So they’re doing business outside their current backyard. And I think that has made the growth and the expansion of those businesses much easier.
Braciale:
It’s also really helpful to stay top of mind without being in a potential customer’s face. And so I think that, we use it as a way to tell our story and the things that we’re doing to keep people interested or to stay on somebody’s radar.
Mabey:
I saw a stat that 75% of people judge the credibility of a company by their website. You talked about doing the research first, and so even before they get to the point of seeing you on Instagram or communicating to you on whatever the social media site is, they probably have already formed an opinion. It’s an interesting way to have to maneuver through, because it’s such a crowded space.
Busby:
The one thing that we don’t talk about in reference to technology is when a firm gets hacked. Cybersecurity is obviously a big conversation going on today across America. What we have found is that 99% of African American firms, when they get hacked, they go out of business. There is no second chance. There is no let me reboot, refresh. If one of our firms are hacked, it’s doomsday. And so we have to be very careful when we’re looking at things that we take for granted. I don’t think most small businesses ever consider what the ramifications are of having some type of cybersecurity on their websites or having some type of form that allows only you or your staff to get in, because many times we don’t find out about the damage until it’s far too far along the road. Your customer has found out about it. Your employees have found out about it. Your competitors have found out about it. And then, by the time you’ve found out about it, it’s too late. I just think small business owners need to make sure that we’re keeping up with the technology, keeping up with all of the information that’s out there, to make sure that we have sustainability on the front end as we continue to use technology.
Mabey:
I think of research that I’ve seen when small business owners are looking to find their financial institution, and a lot of people think that, oh, it’s about the product, it’s about the price, where JD Power said, according to their survey, it is about customer experience. And the number one thing is ease of doing business. And so, then you immediately think, ease of doing business, technology has to be in there someplace.
Braciale:
Right.
Mabey:
Where does that fit into the equation?
Braciale:
So, I don’t go to the bank to deposit checks anymore, and thankfully, Wells Fargo just increased their limit. Because sometimes I would have a check, which is not a bad problem to have …
Mabey:
I’m glad you noticed.
Braciale:
But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t be able to deposit it, because it would be too much. And then I would actually have to go to the bank. So, leveraging and being able to use your phone, you know, get alerts, and identify kind of all these different things. Another way is, everything’s connected to my QuickBooks. And so, I’m able to share that with my accountant. So it actually saves me money in the long term. And it also makes sure that my books are more accurate than if I was waiting until the end of the month or assembling receipts in a shoebox and things like that. So, I think that technology, at the end of the day, as the way I engage with the bank has changed. I don’t go into the banking branch as often as I used to. But I do know that when I have a question and I need to get something, I like being able to make an appointment, and all those other things that make it a little bit easier for myself.
