Blockchain applications for small enterprises

The blockchain has made a name for itself as a cutting-edge technology that will benefit companies, encourage efficiency at scale, and spur growth—despite still being in the experimental stages. Large corporations and brands have begun utilizing the cutting-edge blockchain technology in an attempt to get an advantage over their competitors. However, startups and small businesses believe that this cutting-edge technology is out of reach for them and that larger corporations are the only ones that can afford to adopt it on a broad scale. This is untrue, though, as there are a lot of ways that small and startup companies may use blockchain technology to improve their operations and become more inventive, cutting-edge, and efficient. Let’s examine a few of these applications and use cases.

Blockchain applications and scenarios for startups and small enterprises

Supply chain management (SCM)

Currently, there are many inefficiencies, errors, leaks, and losses associated with supply chain management and logistics. Many of issues stem from human mistake, intrinsic complexity in processes and management, a lack of digitization in various SCM areas, and low value chain visibility.

Businesses may enhance the visibility and traceability of the value chain from beginning to finish, remove inefficiencies, optimize obstacles, and stop leaks by utilizing blockchain technology and blockchain ledgers. Startups can keep a closer eye on the weather and make quick contact with insurance carriers in the event of an accident thanks to enhanced visibility of their goods and transportation vehicles. They can also file and process claims more quickly.

Additionally, they can increase client trust and brand image by being more open and honest with them about where their things are and when exactly they will arrive. (It is challenging for startups and small firms to build their brand image and credibility.)

The hassle-free storage and safe interchange of data is blockchain’s other main application in supply chain management. The blockchain ledger can be used to store and easily track all product and service related data throughout time, including fraud detection, inefficiencies, and duplicate record duplication.

Contracts with Smarts

Unlike traditional paper contracts, the self-verifying and self-enforcing smart contracts maintained in blockchain ledgers remove middlemen and third parties from the process of ensuring that all parties involved adhere by the terms of the contract. By automating the procedure, they get rid of complexity, obstacles, and inefficiencies in contract enforcement. For startups that often deal with multiple contracts over their lifetime, these smart contracts can significantly cut legal/third-party service provider expenses while also dramatically expediting and streamlining procedures. Startups can use smart contracts in a number of domains, including:

  • Payroll
  • Invoicing
  • contracts
  • Property management
  • Non-disclosure agreements
  • Construction
  • Lending, etc.

Information security and digital identity management

In the world that is becoming more and more digitally connected, data breaches, identity thefts, and related crimes are on the rise. Data security, secure identity management of internal and external stakeholders, and protection against misuse/fraudulent activities are vital for startups and any other firm, regardless of team size and kind of operation, and are increasingly becoming a subject of legal compliance globally. Larger companies can recover from data breaches and information thefts because they have the infrastructure and financial resources to do so, but startups and small firms cannot, and they often go down months after a breach or cyberattack.

Businesses may build encrypted identities with blockchain technology, manage authentication and reconciliation issues, and guarantee the greatest levels of data protection. Startups can integrate with multiple online applications, external software programs, and services while safeguarding client and business data against cyberattacks and other malevolent entities. Aside from this, data is encrypted and kept in an impregnable distributed cloud storage system.

Consumer involvement and experiences

The erroneous, fragmented, and poor representation of the customer resulting from human error, faulty information capture, and duplication of customer information (customer history, personal information, subscriptions, etc.) is one of the main issues with CRM technologies globally. The data becomes outdated, the insights become worthless and unactionable, and the customer experiences and engagement become inconsistent when there is such an erroneous portrayal of the consumer. Blockchain technology has the potential to solve these problems. Additionally, startups can use these excellent data to produce excellent consumer experiences and engagement.

Promotions and advertising

As with the previous tip regarding customer experiences and engagement, blockchain technology can be used to efficiently and accurately aggregate user data to obtain high-quality, actionable insights about users that can be used to tailor promotions and ads and guarantee more precise audience targeting.

One of the most common misconceptions about blockchain technology is that it can only be used for cryptocurrencies like bitcoins. However, there are a plethora of other use cases and applications for organizations of all sizes.

Advantages

Elevated degrees of cybersecurity

The discussion above clearly demonstrates how blockchain technology, in conjunction with digital identity management, decentralized cloud storage, data encryption, and key-value mechanisms for authorization and authentication, can help startups and small businesses attain high cybersecurity standards. Blockchain significantly lowers cybersecurity threats and improves a startup’s security posture.

Changing out outdated systems

Many small and startup firms continue to operate with outdated IT systems. This may be the result of their limited resources, which prevent them from being able to adapt to the rapidly changing technological innovations. Blockchain technology is affordable for startups and is available on a pay-per-use or subscription basis. In addition, by utilizing this cutting-edge technology, startups may do away with the tedious manual labor, pointless procedures, and menial activities associated with legacy systems, saving money on pointless administrative expenses and freeing up staff for other crucial responsibilities.

Openness

Blockchain technology’s greater openness and process visibility assist firms lower their fraud risk while simultaneously enhancing their brand image and client base.

After going over the advantages and use cases of blockchain technology, it’s critical to remember that it has drawbacks and is not a revolutionary medical advancement. Currently, one of the biggest issues facing blockchain technology is the lack of critical momentum and strategic investment necessary to establish a minimal viable ecosystem. As a result, there aren’t many users. The ideal user base for the technology is one that is rather large, perhaps around 100 or 1000.

Lastly, not every kind of startup can benefit from every use case and application. Before hopping on the blockchain bandwagon, startups and small enterprises need to assess and comprehend their business processes and determine which areas will benefit the most from the deployment of the technology.

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