Skilled Migrant Professionals February 2015 | Page 43

A staggering 94% of small businesses are using smart phones and other devices to conduct their business. Switching to smart phones are saving businesses billions every year.  According to a survey done by AT&T and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, over the past year, small businesses have saved $67.5 billion by using mobile apps, tablets, smart phones and other devices to conduct their everyday business. Smart phones alone saved business owners $32.3 billion last year.  The survey also showed that smart phones save business owners a lot of time. Business owners saved 1.24 billion hours last year by conducting their business via smart phones.  Tablets are also huge 754.2 hours and $19.6 billion for business owners. Mobile apps saved business owners 599.5 million hours and around $15.6 billion last year.  SBE Council Pres- time and money savers, saving ident and CEO Karen Kerrigan said: “Clearly, we are at a point where entrepreneurs now look first to communications technologies and innovations for solutions to improve productivity, cut costs and better manage and engage with customers.  Technology a SMART decision “That is time and money that can go back into driving sales and innovating the marketplace.”  More than half of the small businesses surveyed said that they use mobile apps, 91% of them saying that it saves them time. The same businesses estimated that they are saving at least $500 a month (up to $ ذ