With the UK in the early grip of recession, 2023 could be a difficult year for many businesses.
Whether they should double down on growth, cut back to survive or just keep the ship on an even keel will depend on the sector they operate in, their product and where they are on the journey.
“Much of the technology sector is still reliant on investment; there are seemingly endless opportunities to solve problems and without money flowing as freely as in previous years we’re likely going to see a deceleration in advancements,” Dec Norton, director of development at CareLineLive, tells TechBlast.
“Saying that, we’ve heard a number of stories of huge layoffs in technology companies that didn’t anticipate the effects of the bounce-back from COVID. There’s an opportunity for companies to snap up skilled workers and contribute towards the growth of their respective sectors.”
No silver bullet
Whatever their situation, Norton has one golden piece of advice: “Remain empathetic with your customers.”
“They’re all feeling the same uncertainty as you,” he explains. “There is no silver bullet to survive a recession, but retaining a strong and trusting relationship with your users will help you persevere through any uncertainty.”
Norton is also the tech lead at IT business MAS Group. Both MAS and CareLineLive – a cloud-based home care management software platform based in Slinford, West Sussex – were founded by his friend Josh Hough.
CareLineLive has hundreds of customers managing thousands of carers around the world. Clients include Home Care Nurses Australia, Clannad Care in Ireland and Coastal Homecare in the UK.
Celebrating 2022
“The last year has been packed with new features and updates for us; being a platform that aims to be holistic we’ve always got our attention on all aspects of running a home care business,” says Norton.
“To aid with rostering and scheduling, we’ve introduced new tools to get better visibility of your roster for extended periods; ‘at a glance’ indicators for carer activity; employee work patterns, including minimum and maximum hours; improved holiday entitlement tooling, and many more.
“To keep up with local authority billing, we’ve added a number of new integrations to ensure providers can safely and accurately submit any required data for billing and we’ve recently launched percentage-based split billing to accommodate part-funded service users.
“With the introduction of the Care Quality Commission’s new assessment framework, we’ve renewed our focus on giving providers the tools to capture and evidence information that helps ensure their inspections are smooth-sailing.”
In 2023, he says the company will continue to grow its team and explore how new and emerging technologies can be utilised in the sector. “With the pervasiveness of wearables, we’re keen to explore how they can be used to enhance experiences within the care circle,” he says.