In 2020, ISO’s offer small businesses a raft of benefits. In a competitive marketplace and amidst the global coronavirus crisis, meeting industry standards across the board is essential for a successful business.
If you’re toying with the idea of meeting ISO standards, read on to learn just a few reasons why it’s worth considering in 2020.
They Identify Areas in Your Business You Can Save Money
Any business, large or small, knows that resource management is crucial if they want to remain competitive. This is especially true today, with a crowded marketplace and extraneous issues making staying afloat tricky.
Meeting ISO requirements help you better manage these resources. It helps you spot problem areas in all aspects of your business so you can find solutions with ease.
Take the ISO 9001 standard, for example. This standard sets out the requirements for a quality management system, meaning you can ensure all aspects of your business meet the industry benchmark.
While many businesses can benefit from ISO 9001, it is especially for tech-based firms. Tech startups such as Deliveroo, for example, often require extensive documentation such as standard operating procedures and (most pertinently) recovery plans for crises such as the current pandemic.
Consequently, ISO 9001 helps tech firms streamline often complex processes, helping them work agilely and reactively.
For small businesses, ISO 9001 is a godsend. Often time-strapped or with limited resources, ISO’s show you what needs to be done in order to meet the same standards of quality that their larger, more established competitors achieve.
They demonstrate green credentials
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the climate crisis is still a huge issue. Governments around the world are striving to meet strict environmental targets, and as such, they require businesses within their countries to do their bit.
Of course, enforcing this requires a raft of rules and regulations across a number of industries. This is where ISO 14001 comes in.
ISO 14001 is the international standard that outlines the necessary legal requirements for business with a solid environmental management system (EMS).
It helps guide your business to the requirements that are needed and shows how they should be implemented. In essence, ISO 14001 gives your business a path to follow rather than simply saying what is needed.
They build trust by protecting your customers’ data
In this day and age, customer information is a precious thing. Given the various breaches of data we’ve seen in the past few years — the Cambridge Analytica scandal, for one — customers are wary about who is handling their personal information.
Consequently, a standardised form of testing is necessary to ensure businesses meet the strict standards of information security.
This is something acknowledged and embraced in the industry as well. The online storefront builder Shopify, for instance, offers all its users industry-standard security certifications including, amongst others, ISO 27001. This is an information security standard that covers data security.
While Shopify caters to businesses of all sizes, it is known for helping smaller businesses get a foothold online. An out-of-the-box ISO like this helps protect them and their customers’ data to the same standard that larger businesses would as well.
The benefits of ISO for small businesses in 2020 are significant. As the points above highlight, ISOs provide clear guidance and easy-to-understand advice to help small businesses improve and scale.
But crucially, meeting ISO requirements means small businesses can compete with their bigger business competitors. In a busy marketplace, that’s a considerable benefit. Speak with a consultant today to learn more.
