Local business owners are leaning into technology to streamline day-to-day tasks, attract new customers, mitigate risks, and more. Doing so frees up time and brain bandwidth to focus on the future and think bigger and better.
Boro6 Wine Bar in Hastings-on-Hudson is the brainchild of co-founders Paul Molakides and Jennifer Aaronson, who credit their concept to village tavernas they couldn’t get enough of when they travelled overseas. Innovating in the kitchen was second nature to Molakides, who has worked in pretty much every restaurant position in New York City and Westchester. But away from the stove, he was used to doing things how he had always done them. “I was using a pencil and a datebook to take reservations,” he admits. Then along came Resy, an online platform that smartly manages bookings and seating flow, and also provides guest data analytics and other marketing tools. Inspired, Molakides tried his hand at creating Boro6 menus using Adobe InDesign layout software. The rest is history.
Similarly, real estate pro Fiona Dogan relies heavily on digital tools to fuel sales. “You cannot be an effective realtor today if you aren’t tech-savvy,” says Dogan, of Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s in Rye. Buyers want to be able to look at houses online anytime, so she uses an app called Matterport to create immersive 3D virtual home tours. Dogan credits these super convenient interior sneak peeks with getting people to make appointments.
And then there’s Ellen Sledge, founder of Penny Lick Ice Cream. Sledge runs three Westchester brick-and-mortar ice cream stores and multiple pushcarts with ease, thanks to a mix of apps and wireless monitoring devices. Most key is TempStick, a sensor that relays freezer temperature and humidity information via Wi-Fi, so Sledge can react right away if anything seems amiss. She also uses Givingli, a digital gifting platform for sending e-gift cards. “When one of my employees does something exceptional, has a birthday, or is having a really bad day, I send them something.”
The bottom line: Technology can help build and future-proof your business in myriad ways. If you’re a little (or a lot) behind the times, tech upgrades can be a worthwhile investment. These are some to get on your radar if they aren’t.
Asana: Project management tool to create tasks, assign responsibilities, set deadlines, and monitor progress through project tracking. Designed to improve collaboration and keep goals on target.
AWS: (Amazon Web Services) Cloud computing platform to access IT resources on demand, including renting computing power, storage, analytics, databases, and content delivery services. Platform makes it easier for businesses to scale quickly without the need for infrastructure.
HubSpot: AI-powered customer platform with sales, marketing, customer service, and content management tools. An all-in-one solution to help track leads, automate follow-ups, and attract and engage customers.
Mailchimp: Platform that helps small businesses create, send, and analyze the success of email campaigns.
Square: Business tool that provides a card reader for fast, easy payment processing and software for payroll, inventory management, and other business functions.
Squarespace and Wix: User-friendly website builders with customizable templates, drag-and-drop capability, e-commerce tools, and app integrations.
QuickBooks: Accounting software that handles financial management like income and expense tracking, taxes, and payroll.
Zapier: An integration network that connects with over 7,000 apps, enabling users to automate workflows across a vast array of platforms that can reduce manual work such as data entry.
Related: Why the Mount Vernon Financial Empowerment Center Offers Free Services
