Using blockchain to grow your business

By now, almost everyone who spends time in the tech space knows that blockchain technology is having a moment. It is a digital technology that has gained prominence in recent years, especially concerning the cryptocurrency industry.

How you could be using blockchain to grow your business

Blockchain technology is not just for tech-savvy bitcoin traders, however. These days, businesses of all kinds, from beauty products to gaming, are jumping on the blockchain bandwagon, and for a good reason. Utilizing blockchain technology in your business can grant it greater efficiency, visibility, transparency, and tracking, among other perks.

Transforming digital business

Blockchain technology has solidified its usefulness among various businesses, with the global market valued at $5.92 billion in 2021 and is forecasted to hit $17.9 billion by 2024. That exponential growth can be attributed to the successes a variety of businesses have found with blockchain technology. The more people recognize its potential and apply the technology to their businesses, the larger its influence becomes.

The injection of blockchain technology into small and medium business ventures also helps the economy at large. Greater access to this technology, and ease of making and receiving payments, can help businesses scale. This, in turn, leads to overall job growth and a strengthening of the market. While initially used to power the digital technology behind bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the emerging applications behind blockchain stand to disrupt tech as a whole.

Finance

Blockchain’s influence on the financial markets is evident. It provides a way to create secure, hack-proof logs of sensitive activity, making it tailor-made for international financial transactions. Blockchain technology reduces the middle-man operations of decades past, creating cheaper and more efficient ways of sending and receiving money.

Lack of access to finances can be one of the biggest issues that small and medium businesses face, despite the significant role that these businesses play in the global economy. For instance, small and medium ventures represent roughly 90% of businesses and 50% of the total workforce worldwide. Giving those ventures an easier way to make payments, receive payments, and grow revenue only stands to bolster the strength of these businesses on the world stage.

Furthermore, blockchain technology allows these companies to bridge financing gaps and adapt to many challenges that may be thrown their way in the midst of building or growing their business. Decentralized financial structures allow businesses access to funding without intermediaries, opening up options where unfunded or underfunded ventures often run the risk of failing.

Supply chain

Issues regarding global supply chains were all over the headlines in the last year due to hiccups in the delivery of every kind of good conceivable, from baby formula to building supplies. To this extent, the blockchain can be utilized to track shipments in real-time, queue up supply chain events, and allocate goods to shipping containers when they arrive from overseas.

The supply chain is a complex network, and minor snafus in it can have devastating ripple effects. Digitizing and automating what was once a paperwork-based process can help suppliers and shipping companies operate with better precision and reliability. Moreover, companies that rely on delivering goods to their customers in a timely manner could find blockchain-driven logistics game-changing, especially during periods of time when many supply chains are stunted.

The metaverse

Many companies have shown increased interest in migrating their operations to the emerging Metaverse. The Metaverse is in the midst of being built, piece by piece, by companies hoping to create space within the virtual world that reflects reality. Within the Metaverse, people can buy and sell goods, socialize with friends or family, and access a number of services, just like they can in the real world. The integration of blockchain technology in the Metaverse means that there is no central control over the actions of businesses that choose to enter it.

The brands that are brave enough to enter this uncharted territory have the potential to be paid back in spades. Because the Metaverse is relatively fluid in terms of what it can be and what it can offer to different industries, the possible opportunities are nearly endless. Brands will have the opportunity to use blockchain technology to create limited-edition goods, luxury goods only available in the Metaverse, and establish a Metaverse-specific image.

The Metaverse presents a wealth of new ways to conduct business, from the healthcare metaverse envisioned by MdDAO to the carbon-neutral racetracks of Drivyn Performance, both projects being helmed by the visionary OG Arabian Prince, founding member of the Hall of Fame rap group N.W.A. Learning how blockchain technology can improve current processes and open up new revenue streams can benefit companies who want to scale and remain financially viable as technology continues to shift towards further integrations with the Metaverse.

Utility Tokens Just For Your Business or Brand 

The availability of utility tokens for a business or brand is also very appealing for companies seeking to dip their digital toes into the Metaverse’s unchartered waters. Utility tokens are tokens developed for use inside a specific blockchain ecosystem. Users who hold these tokens have access to privileges specific to a business, such as discounts or early-bird product access. 


Many people at the forefront of laying the groundwork for Web3 see tokenization for private businesses to be the next major evolution in business, as any brand or company can create a token meant to represent any product or service that has value to consumers. Companies that offer real, viable products that jump on the token bandwagon during their infancy in public markets are bound to be rewarded for their innovation.

Businesses can also use utility tokens as rewards programs, allowing customers to earn additional tokens the more they use a business’s product or service. Rewards Bunny is one such company already capitalizing on this concept. Think about traditional credit card loyalty programs, grocery store loyalty cards, or frequent flier mile programs; tokenization can work the same way for small and medium businesses. The aspect of tokenization that holds game-changing potential is the ability of the customer to trade the tokens they earn. While companies like airlines will not allow you to sell your frequent flier miles, which would render the whole point of the program useless, you can trade a utility token. This incentivizes customers to build and use rewards, leading to more revenue for the business.

Asset control

One of the most appealing things about blockchain technology for businesses is the concept of the provenance of ownership. In simple terms, this means that the blockchain acts as a representative of ownership of an asset in terms of data related to that asset, meaning that only the asset owner can authenticate a transfer transaction to another owner. Any and all changes made to the original data connected to an asset can be tracked and logged, making an asset's chain of ownership clear and legitimate. Derived from the art world and the process of authenticating art pieces, the provenance of ownership has allowed trades and asset transfers to occur while establishing the trustworthiness of this novel technology.

The provenance of ownership also affords content creator protections. Media content creators, whether it be graphic content, music, video, or any other form, will see ownership protection of royalties even in second-hand sales. Aspiring self-publishing musicians can now record a song or entire album in their bedroom and leverage a fan community on platforms such as Ore Spark. This is all possible because of the fundamental basics of blockchain.

There is no question that the future is digital. Being at the forefront of digital revolutions, like the move to Web3 and blockchain technology utilization, can help businesses not only thrive but scale to higher heights. Many businesses are excited about the possibilities available through blockchain technology; making and receiving payments have been simplified, and unnecessary intermediaries that can slow business down have been eliminated.

However, one of the biggest benefits of blockchain integration may be the concept of trust. Business relationships thrive when trust is well-established. Being able to validate and track transactions, beyond physical borders and outside of currency exchange issues, is a great way to build global trust in one’s venture. While it may take time and educational outreach to get customers and clients on board with the blockchain, once the benefits are laid bare, it will likely be a massive benefit to any business that brings it on board.

Mark Kaley

With over 15 years of experience consulting with large and small businesses, providing them with management, marketing, and business consulting services, Mark is an entrepreneur at heart, an advocate for small businesses, a passionate storyteller, and author of "From Pennies to Millions." Since joining Otter PR, Mark has had massive success with his clients, landing them placements in CNBC, Yahoo! News, CBS News, Time, Wall Street Journal, Marketwatch, US News & World Report, Investor’s Business Daily, Tech Crunch, Tech Target, Bloomberg, Insider, Spectrum News, Miami Herald, The Street, Charlotte Observer, Forbes, and Fortune. Mark has been featured in Fox Business, PR Pioneer, O’Dwyer PR, and  Consumer Affairs.