If you have a small child or are a fan of “dad jokes”, you’ll probably be familiar with the following:

A piece of lettuce and a tomato were having a race. The tomato spent the whole race trying to “ketchup”.

While this joke may get nothing but groans and eye rolls from everyone around you, you never want to put yourself or your business in the position of the tomato. Instead of always being behind the curve and doing your best to “ketchup”, you’d rather be on par with everyone or ahead of the field.

Are you doing the most for your business to stay ahead of the curve? If not, below are some ways you can modernize your business and get all caught up before the lettuce leaves you behind.

Embrace the Cloud

If you have a phone, laptop or computer, chances are that you’ve heard of “the cloud” before. Your contacts are stored on the cloud. Your photos are stored on the cloud. Files are stored on the cloud. But just what is the cloud, and where is it?

In the simplest terms, the cloud is offsite storage that is accessible through the internet. There is no one “the cloud” out there, with all the files, photos, information and contacts stored in one places. Chances are, you’ve used some form of the cloud. See if any of the following ring a bell:

• Google Drive
• Apple iCloud
• Yahoo Mail
• Dropbox
• OneDrive

So, what can the cloud do for you? For starters, it greatly cuts down on costs for hardware and storage space. With a Google account, for example, each account gets up to 15 GB for free. Upgrading to 30 GB is much cheaper than buying your own hardware. More and more businesses are turning to the cloud each year, and it’s a booming business.

The downside is that someone else is storing your information, and for those with privacy concerns, it might be a bit disheartening. Overall, you’re better off using the cloud for all of your data storage needs.

Sharing is Caring

Ten years ago, carpooling was the best way to minimize traffic and drive time. That could be a bit complicated, driving from place to place and organizing pickups and drop offs. There was always a battle to call “shotgun”, so one person could claim the coveted front seat.

Nowadays, people can compete to call “driver” with car-sharing. More and more people are leaning on services like Uber or Lyft to take them from place to place or short-term car rental places for their driving needs.

The same principle can apply to your business. Instead of making a big purchase on item X, why not look into renting not just cars but other business needs? It will cut down on your costs and you can feel part of the sharing revolution.

It’s Time to Outsource

It’s impossible to find a business that doesn’t use computers, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is a computer expert. Some big businesses have full-time IT and cyber employees, ready to help anyone at the drop of a hat.

But smaller businesses? There’s no need to have an IT guy ready at the drop of the hat. It’s better to outsource that labor and bring them in on a need-to basis.

Not just IT, but any other specific job as well.

Get Familiar with Telecommuting

It’s incredibly easy to communicate with someone no matter where they are on the planet. So many different messaging and communication apps make having a conversation with someone on another continent as easy as brushing your teeth.

Many businesses are turning to telecommuting, letting many of their employees work remotely from anywhere on the planet. Not only does this save a company money via office space and utilities, but it also shows a certain trust in employees that allows them to work away from home. If your business is already operating online, then you’ve probably explored this option.

Of course, you could have the best of both worlds, setting a day when people could work from home and other days when they have to come in the office. There’s a solution out there for everyone.