Digital transformation has become a necessity for businesses of all sizes to stay relevant and competitive in todayβs quickly transforming and evolving business environment. The extent of investment capacity required for the digital transformation of businesses varies heavily amongst SMEs. For small and medium scale enterprises with limited budget, this transformation can seem like a daunting task. But it does not have to be, say small business owners (SMBs) and MSME industry leaders who have steered their businesses’ digital transformation journeys and their adoption of technology.
βSMEs should focus on tech that can help them reinvent themselves, respond to changing customer behaviour, and upgrade their offerings,β says Jhumki Pandey – Sinha Roya, Director of Business Operations and Customer Success, The Global Associates.
For SMBs, the benefits of leveraging technology and going digital are many, including cost optimization, improved productivity, increased business agility, better customer experience, and improved data security. As per the recent Salesforce Small and Medium Business Trends Reports, 75 percent of total SMB leaders surveyed believe the shifts that they’ve made to their buiness operations over the past year will benefits them long-term.
According to Aditya Prabhu, Co-Founder and Group CEO, Secutech Automation India Pvt Ltd, βdigital transformation has an enormous impact on sales, service, communication, collaboration and creating a single source of truthβ.
To be clear, SMBs owners are utilizing technology to not only improve their decision making processes but also to enhance their business operations and gain a competitive edge to expand their businesses including tapping into the international markets. To help facilitate the digital transformation for SMB executives, here are some effective tips including advice from SME owners who have sucessfully adapted digital transformation in their business opertions.
Unlock data-driven decision making
Using data driven insights can help SMB executives make better and informed business decisions. Organizations are now leveraging the power of AI-powered business analytics tools to empower their teams with better understanding and useful insights regarding their customers preferences. Aditya Prabhu says, βSMEs must amply digitise to be able to make data driven decisions in any of their businesses, whether it is marketing, pricing or measuring ovrell business performance.”
There are several data visualisation tools and business intelligence platforms available in the market that can help SMEs unleash the power of data.* One such example is Tableau by Salesforce which offers businesses a unified dashboard, actionable analytics reports, and a plethora of user guides and tutorials. It has a free trial period and flexible pricing models available for prolonged use. βProcess automation is a must for any company that wants to be people-driven rather than people-dependent. And for continuous business sucess, hire quality talent and train them to optimise their performance fast,” says Bala Nadar, Founder, Startupwala.com.
Build an effective tech adaptation strategy
While most SMEs realise the benefits of digitisation, they struggle to get past the budget and usability barriers. However, digitisation doesnβt always need to cost a fortune and it can surely deliver power with simplicity. βLook for the right solutions, get the right teams involved, roll out gradually, and find internal champions to boost adoption,β says Jhumki Pandey.
Instead of looking for extensive digital overhauling, SME owners could maybe take small incremental steps towards automating and streamlining their business processes. And later on, as they get time and have the required resources they can start digitizing at scale. Aditya Prabhu of Securetech Automation India Pvt Ltd says, βspend time to understand your business needs and tackle the most painful problems first. Take a phased approach and ensure everyone is satisfied with the chosen solution.”
Integrate the right digital tools for your business
Small and medium scale business owners need to ensure that their tech adoption plans are in line with their business goals. For SMEs just starting the process of digitizing, it’s essential to first understand their business needs. They need to start their move towards the digital ecosystem by adopting tools and technologies that will help them integrate disparate systems and unlock useful insights using data analytics.
According to Avinash Anand, Managing Partner, Unimark, Hi-tech Solutions LLP, βwith the right technology SMEs can extract insightful information from all their data with just a few clicks. This replaces all subjectivity with pure data and gives the top management greater visibility.β The margin of error and loss is very limited for SME enterprises and making an informed decision based on data will go a long way in boosting the growth of these businesses.
Ensure seamless integration of business system
Why are businesses opting for digital transformation? The Covid-19 pandemic may have surely acted as a catalyst towards this transformation but the major reasons are automated workflows, streamlined operations, enhanced efficiency along with the ability to deliver an enhanced and improved customer experience. But isnβt seamless communication and integration of different business verticals the key to achieving all this?
SMBs need to build a customer centric approach to stay relevant in todayβs highly competitive business environment. And for that to happen they first need to break down the internal silos. Using automation small business owners can connect the different business applications used by their different departments to build a common internal platform. This will help them reduce dependency on manual data transfers thus reducing the chances of errors and in turn improve their business efficiency. βTransparent operations and faster business processes are two definite wins from tech adoption” states Avinsah Anand.
Streamline customer relationship management for instant customer service
The recent Salesforce Small and Medium Business Trends Report states that 71% percent of SMBs said that their customers expect online transactions and nearly the same proportion have an ecommerce presence. βAdopting a credible CRM solution is the easiest place to start digitising. It makes crucial data accessible, enabling you to strengthen customer relationships through contextual interactions, says Bala Nadar.
Integrating a reliable CRM solution will not only strengthen your businessβs digital transformation but also effectively boost your customer service efforts. Mostly, SMBs rely on customer relationship management solutions that enable both seamless integration of remote working facilities and improved online customer experiences. Salesforceβs CRM solutions for small scale enterprises is one such example. SMB owners can even try these for free and then later on subscribe to them based on their needs and requirements.
Getting digital transformation right
Lastly, for SMBs to be successful in a digital-first world, taking their business operations online is a must. Digital transformation needs to be executed in a systematic yet urgent manner to future proof small businesses and also ensure their growth in the quickly evolving tech-led environment of today. As Avinash Anand, Managing Partner, Unimark, Hi-tech Solutions LLP, puts it, βSME owners need to think, lean, smart, agile- think how technology can allow them to provide the best quality services at the lowest cost.’
Reference: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/security-tech/technology/small-business-owners-decode-how-msmes-can-get-their-digital-transformation-right-to-drive-sustainable-growth/articleshow/92709745.cms
