Although blockchain is among the hottest buzzwords in technology today, only some people understand what it is and can do. There are still people who think it’s a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. However, blockchain is one of the most versatile and innovative technologies with numerous use cases and applications in business. Learning more about it can help you gain the potential benefits it offers in transforming your business operations towards efficiency, security, transparency, high scalability, and futuristic.
Blockchain can improve your business operations and create new income streams if you know how to use it in your business. This is especially the case with custom blockchain solutions. In this article, you’ll see six ways blockchain can help you as an everyday business owner. But really, if blockchain is not a cryptocurrency, what is it then?
What is Blockchain Technology?
In layman’s language, blockchain is the technology developers use to create cryptocurrencies. A distributed ledger technology (DLT) records transactions in blocks managed by multiple participants on a peer-to-peer network. These transactions are tamper-proof, permanent, transparent, and visible to all participants on the network.
The transactions are recorded simultaneously across the network, creating a system with no single point of failure and, therefore, higher security. It is a beneficial technology with use cases across numerous industries and niches to improve the supply chain, payments, management, and many other uses. Here are the simple ways a business can use blockchain in everyday business dealings.
Building trust
One notable feature and best quality of blockchain technology is its ability to establish trust between participants who haven’t met or interacted before. The nature of its construction is trustless. This means that participants in a transaction can trust that none of them will commit fraud or falsify any information being provided.
However, rather than using a public blockchain, your business should opt for a private blockchain where you can set rules on records edits, verifications, and a consensus process. This builds trust, whether it’s between you and your business partners, employees, associates, or suppliers. Blockchain helps to create more trust than in traditional transactions and record keeping.
One of the best applications here is in supply chain management. Imagine how many people are involved in the process of sourcing products to stock your store and then send to customers. You need manufacturers, transport services, warehouses, and shipping agents. Coordinating and tracking this process in traditional ways leaves gaps that opportunists can exploit. Blockchain can streamline this, create better visibility and tracking, and improve trust and service delivery.
Value transfer
Transfer of value is the original blockchain use and helps transfer value to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. However, the transfer of value has now grown to other digital assets, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This is where you can transfer value to memorabilia, a piece of art, music, sports, an event, a moment, and many other things. There are so many ways you can use blockchain now to transfer value.
Custom solutions
Perhaps your business is unique and niche specific, and you need to build an application or an internal system to streamline that. You can use blockchain to build more secure, scalable, stable, and future-proof apps. While it’s possible to build traditional apps for the same, blockchain is a more versatile and stable technology for custom solutions. Besides building apps, blockchain offers opportunities to add income streams to your business.
For instance, if you’re organizing an event, you can opt for NFT ticketing over traditional tickets. This is beneficial in helping your business accurately track attendance and save costs while attracting more attention to the event. You can also create an NFT from other things, such as a moment during the event, and monetize it.
Eliminating third parties
When using blockchain for your transactions, you automatically eliminate the middleman plus the costs and time associated with them. Since it’s a trustless technology, the bank does not need to verify a credit card payment when a customer pays. You also don’t need to take your contracts through a lawyer; instead, you use self-executing smart contracts.
Incorporating blockchain simplifies your work and speeds up transactions, leaving no room for doubt. Smart contracts automatically execute when previously set, and agreed conditions are met. And since smart contracts are simply code, you can use them for practically any form of contract execution. For example, you can set up a contract to buy or sell shares or stocks when the price is right or lock your asset, like in crypto or NFT staking for a specific time. You won’t have to do it manually or through a third party.
Protection of assets
Cybercrime has become a big business as data has become one of the most significant and important business assets. By 2021, the damage caused by cybercrime was predicted to be about $6 trillion and could reach $10 trillion by 2025. While that may have been just a prediction, the global cost of data breaches is alarming and something every business owner should be concerned about.
However, blockchain could help bring a bit of relief. As a decentralized, transparent, and tamper-proof technology, blockchain has a higher transactional security than traditional apps. As previously shared, the way data is stored on blockchain makes it hard for hacking. Every block added to the chain is highly encrypted with cryptography and references the previous block.
This reference matters as it contains a complex mathematical problem and solution that enables a new block to be formed. This is what makes the records immutable and tamper-proof.
But you still need to mitigate end-user vulnerabilities by securing all data sources that fall outside the blockchain infrastructure.
Conclusion
You might not have thought much about incorporating blockchain in your business or were on the fence about the matter. But looking around, you will see how it’s changing other businesses within your industry. It offers more trust, speed, transparency, and opportunities for you and your business to create more income. Don’t wait until all your competitors are way ahead of you. Lead the pack and create a business ecosystem that’s more futuristic and secure.