In this article, we will discuss the impacts of Coding on an Online Business in today’s world.
With the turn of events in the last few years, we have seen a dramatic shift from normal brick and mortar stores to online businesses. The world, after being thrown for a loop with lockdowns and health protocols that limit our capacity to perform face-to-face business interactions, has learned that conducting business online is a very effective way of keeping businesses afloat and the economy alive and thriving.
Many physical stores and businesses now have an online presence as well. And with this shift, we also see a rise in demand for coding skills and business professionals with a coding background. Basic knowledge of coding can now be useful in roles outside of traditional IT jobs. .
Coding in Business
Whether your business is in technology, or just has an online presence, coding is relevant. Even businesses like publishing companies, or financial institutions can benefit from employees who have coding knowledge when it comes to specific tasks.
Coding and the workflow process
Coding knowledge can improve efficiency. When learning to code, you are exposed to the problem-solving mindset. Part of coding practice is combing through your lines of code to look for errors or areas that can be improved or simplified. This can translate to employees seeing areas for improvement in their workflows. It could also mean the development of tools designed to increase efficiency within the team or updating the tools that are already in use to cut down on process time and errors.
In this way, coding knowledge saves time. The time it used to take to accomplish a certain step in a workflow, improvements to tools or the process itself could cut it down by half or even more. This gives employees more time to do other productive tasks or to review their output.
This brings us to quality improvement. Developing tools that cut down on errors can bring rapid improvement in output or product quality. Even the extra time for quality checks afforded by time-saving tools can already markedly improve quality.
Coding in communications
Coding knowledge doesn’t just impact how people do their work. It also improves how teams collaborate and communicate. When you are a company that has your own IT development team who develops apps for internal use, having employees outside your IT teams who have basic coding knowledge can be a great help. It’s especially helpful when it comes to making suggestions, as they understand the basic methodology of how the app works behind the scenes and can make accurate suggestions that way.
Coding and your customers
Coding knowledge can bring improvements in-app performance or website performance for companies that have online apps. This translates to a better customer experience when your clients are browsing through your app or your website.
When customers have a good experience with using your app, it means that they will keep using your app because it delivers. This promotes customer loyalty. And when customers are really pleased with how your online platforms are performing for them, they will recommend you to their friends, family, and peers. Free and high quality marketing!
Coding and small businesses
Many small businesses still lack an online presence (apart from their social media accounts). Many of them with no coding backgrounds find the idea of having their own website or app daunting. Unbeknownst to many fledgling entrepreneurs, they can use a no-code app to start their online presence.
A little coding knowledge can go a long way when it comes to small businesses and their online presence. Small business owners can improve the layout of their websites, tweak their apps, and improve customer experience with a bit of coding.
An online presence is important when reaching your intended customers as many business transactions are now conducted online. Day by Day, people are spending more time online. If you don’t take advantage of that, you are losing out on a growing market.
Importance of learning how to Code
Learning how to code will help you future-proof your career or your online business. Technology is leaping towards the future, constantly improving at a faster pace than ever before. Coding will help you understand technology, and make you more versatile. Having this skill can open more avenues for you to pursue career-wise.
For entrepreneurs, learning how to code can help you keep abreast of new improvements and fads, and keep your fingers on the pulse of business trends. This keeps your business interesting to your customers and will keep them engaged.
Getting started
Coding is not as daunting as it may appear. There are various websites that offer coding courses for entrepreneurs and non-IT employees. These courses will guide you through the coding process, learning a programming language, and applying what you learned to your business.
You don’t need prior coding or programming knowledge. You can start from scratch and build your skills from the ground up. Find a course that works for you and your schedule, and stick with it. Learn the skill and everything that comes with it (creativity, outside-the-box thinking, problem-solving mindset). These will be useful to you as you build and expand your career or your business.
The best part is how you don’t even need to know how to code in many cases. If you want to start a website for your business, you don’t need to code it yourself, rather you could use a Content-Management System like WordPress, which handles all that for you in a super-user friendly way.
Conclusion
Over the last decade, Coding has become a major and irreplaceable part of any successful online business, and it’s here to stay. Evaluate your business, and find out just how coding can help you improve it.
In the end, it all comes down to the effort you are willing to put in to advance your business. The world is moving forward, and if you don’t move along with it, you will quickly be left behind.
