As part one and part two of our small business & technology series this week have pointed out, companies today are more reliant than ever on new technology to succeed, and the owners and employees of companies recognize that reliance on new technology. According to a recent survey commissioned by Microsoft, 75% of business owners reported that technology is important to sustaining their business, including 52% who said it was very important or extremely important. Successful small business owners want new technology to survive, and actively seek it. What is becoming apparent in today’s world is that advanced technology is no longer the dominion of the large companies.

Technology is More Available and Less Costly

The cost of technology in general has dropped dramatically over the last decade, and the innovators and providers of new technology are making their products more available to small businesses. With small and family-owned business representing at least 50% of US gross domestic product and generating 60-80% of the net new jobs over the past decade (source: SBA.gov report), technology providers have realized that they must make their new technology accessible to small businesses. They achieve this through lower costs, custom package offerings of technology, special ‘small office’ versions of technology, and small business promotions.

It used to be that the bigger companies got the far more powerful software and the better computers and gadgets. No more. Your local office products or electronics store stocks affordable software, pdas, laptops, and computing equipment that is equivalent to what the big companies can get.

When asked about such technology availability, Ed Lohman, VP of Affordable Computing Enterprises, said, “I believe it allows a small business to use software and newer hardware to produce very professional results with a much more limited investment. With the power of today’s PCs coupled with software such as Microsoft Office 2007 and HP Color LaserJet printers, smaller offices can produce results such as flyers, letters, brochures, etc. that previously were only limited to large businesses.”

Small Business Can Adapt Faster

Beyond being able to attain advanced technology at an affordable cost, small business, by virtue of being smaller, can also adapt to and adopt new technology faster. When a new technology becomes available, a large business is faced with the tough decision of whether to invest large sums of money to buy and integrate the technology into a group of thousands of employees. And then attempt to execute that plan, getting all of those employees to successfully adapt.

In contrast, the same new technology will cost significantly less for a small business to buy, and it will be much easier for a small business to get a handful of employees to adapt. It can also be argued that small businesses make better use of new technology because of their quick adoption rates.

Technology Brings Power Back to the Small Business

Technology helps level the playing field between small business and large business because the small business can now do practically everything a large business can do. Technology imbues the small business with equal power. It gives a small business equal (or perhaps even greater) mobility, reaction time, and flexibility.

Ed Lohman: “The increase in the use of email, mobile devices, and the web allow small businesses to be connected from virtually anywhere. This increased mobility greatly levels the playing field because small business can now react instantly (or close thereto) to any changes, requests.”

The increased availability of technology in today’s world is bringing the rebirth of the small business. The old, heavily-encumbered large businesses should be wary of their eager small business brethren, who are open-minded, chomping at the bit, and are now armed with the proper technology to truly compete on an even playing field.