How Blockchain Can Help Your Small Business During Tough Times & Beyond

Just a few short years ago many people were asking the simplest questions. What is the blockchain? Where can I buy Bitcoin?

These days, so many people have gotten on board that the questions have shifted dramatically. Now, small businesses have realized that they need to adopt the blockchain in their business to stay competitive and to weather tough times.

How can the blockchain help my business? Those are the types of questions people are asking years after the launch of Bitcoin.

Here are several ways that your small business can use blockchain technology to help streamline your practices and increase revenue.

Payment processing

The most obvious way to use the blockchain is to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at your POS. Accepting payments like this will cut down on a big expense that many businesses have to deal with. The fees that traditional merchant services charge to process payments is exorbitant to say the least.

Since there is no middleman on the blockchain, the process is simpler and there are fewer fees.

This also applies to transferring money, either to pay employees or to accept wire transfers for payments. With companies these days hiring many remote employees, the process can be simplified by paying in Bitcoin so there is no hassle with a currency exchange or Byzantine banking laws.

Another way that may not seem as obvious as the above for a business to use Bitcoin is to invest in the coins directly. Many small businesses may want to protect their assets and try to grow a profit at the same time by buying Bitcoin and allowing it to mature.

Data storage

The cloud has solved a lot of data storage problems for small businesses by allowing for lots of data storage that is cheap, easy to access and safe. The blockchain offers the same thing but with some extras that the cloud can’t offer.

It has become common knowledge that the cloud is just a server. Well, the blockchain is thousands of servers. And this is what makes it far more secure than a traditional cloud server.

A hacker need only breach one server to gain access to your sensitive documents on the cloud. On the blockchain it would take gaining access to thousands, or more servers making it impossible.

Using smart contracts

Any kind of contract previously depended on third parties. This takes a lot of trust that the contract can be executed fairly and that it can be enforced. With a smart contract, there is a trustless system since there is no middleman.

The contract on the blockchain can’t be altered. The piece of code that encrypts the smart contract ensures that it is verified and never altered in any way.

Internet of Things

From shipping logistics to inventory control, the blockchain is taking over from the cloud for its implementation of the internet of things.

Devices can communicate with each other autonomously and securely with all of their transactions being registered in a hash on the chain.