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Blockchain may have gained great momentum by providing the infrastructure for Bitcoin, but then, the Gen Z technology is disrupting big and small businesses, at large. Industry giants such as Microsoft and IBM have made significant investments in the blockchain, considering it will become an integral part of the business operations in the future.

In a nutshell, blockchain is a distributed ledger maintaining a record of every transaction across each network spread over thousands of computers, hence reducing the chances of hacking to nil. It has emerged as a new alternative way to transact money and is transforming the way people run businesses.

Here are top 5 applications of blockchain for your business

Paperwork and recordkeeping.

As an entrepreneur, you have to keep a record of your sales. You might catalog on paper or online. Blockchain enables storing of data such as correspondences, proposals, memos, receipts, contracts digitally, giving a clear image of what happened where. The most significant advantage of blockchain is the transparency and safety it brings against any malicious errors. The blockchain is an efficient method to manage paperwork which currently suffers at the hands of frauds and failures.

Supply chain management

Another useful application of blockchain is supply chain management and quality control. For the same reason, Walmart has partnered with IBM to use the technology for managing supply chain to and from its stores.

"Most of the things we buy are sold in components by a chain of suppliers to a company that congregates and markets the final product," says Phil Gomes on Eledman Digital. If a particular component fails, the brand will face a severe backlash.

Using blockchain technology, one can easily find a perished or crummy component at each step making the whole process more streamlined.

Transaction Histories

Implementing a blockchain in your business will help you have a detailed record of debts and credits, guaranteeing that the data cannot be tampered with once it have been entered. The bitcoin's blockchain is distributed among a network of entities that validates the blockchain independently. The entities communicate with each other to ensure there is concurrence on the blockchain's accuracy. This structure provides an accurate transaction history without needing to rely on any third party such as a bank.

Smart contracts

Smart contracts can help you handle numerous transactions. You can use them to integrate service across different businesses without revealing sensitive or proprietary information.

As per Nelson Petracek, chief technology officer of TIBCO, smart contracts allows organizations to embed codes into a blockchain network for automatic handling of transactions across participants.

Voting

Just like the traditional currency, votes can be moved along a blockchain securely and accurately. Using blockchain as a mechanism for voting can strengthen democracy, empower the citizens and facilitate fair election results.

Spansos quoted, "Voting can be one sector where blockchain can make waves". He further added that as long as we need transparency and accuracy of the votes, we have to trust blockchain results considering they are tampered-free.

Wrapping up

Blockchain has disrupted the conventional methods of doing and perceiving the business. But the question is- are companies ready to embrace this technology? Most experts say it will take time, but the adoption is inevitable. The development of this technology is still at nascent stages and will bloom once more and more companies dig deeper. If you're looking to expand your business, use these applications outlined to streamline your business process and increase sales.

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