The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of technology in irrevocable ways; from working remotely to reallocating offline marketing spend to digital channels, SME business owners initiated numerous changes in their day-to-day functioning to cater to the need of the hour.
A decade ago, after smartphones found wide adoption, none of us could imagine going back to the pre-smartphone era. The same could be the case for new-age technology that is now finding favor amongst SMEs.
For SME businesses, embracing digitization and technology can result in multi-benefits. A few important tech-led initiatives that SMEs can undertake are listed below:
1) CRM software
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software is not just for large corporations. Small businesses can greatly benefit from CRM by effectively managing contacts, leads and deals and automating time-intensive processes like data entry.
This frees up time for other important aspects such as strategy and customer satisfaction and enables a personalized approach to customers and markets through CME enabled data analytics. CRM software’s are easily customizable and do not require coding skills or a technical team.
2) Upgraded HR
Centralized HR information systems have become mission-critical. As the focus shifts towards a remote work culture (the latest recruiting perk, by the way), antiquated HR systems will have no place in a modern organization.
Comprehensive HR software can play a vital role in aiding small businesses to track the performance of their employees and their needs on critical parameters like training and development. Adopting tech fosters a healthy workplace culture of two-way communication and improves employee on-boarding and career mapping.
3) Inventory Management Software
SMEs must ensure the ready availability of goods to meet customer demand at any point. At the same time, overstocking can take up storage space and result in unsold products.
Therefore, Inventory Management Software can help small business owners to improve data analytics, reporting and operational workflows. This will enable businesses to scale up and support better customer service while achieving economies of scale.
4) Cyber Security
According to 2020 research conducted in the UK and US, 43% of SMEs don’t have a cybersecurity plan. This potentially leaves sensitive financial, customer and business data, and ultimately, the company, at significant risk. It could result in serious downtime and issues relating to productivity and data privacy.
Investing in cyber security means putting security protocols in place to protect networks and company data from unauthorized access.
SME owners wear multiple hats and are themselves involved in project management, accounting, HR etc. This can be an overwhelming experience. Therefore, digital transformation of SME can catapult the productivity, efficiency, and growth of businesses to another level.
The ‘no fees, no equity’ Wadhwani Advantage program has a repository of business advisors, SME consultants and mentors, and curated experts who add great value to businesses. These are domain experts who have successfully transformed businesses. You can avail of their services by applying to the Wadhwani Advantage program, which builds capacity to accelerate the revenue of businesses by 2x to 10x.
https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/WUzduI
(Businesses with INR 25 Cr+ revenue and employee strength ≥ 100, intent to grow 10x and a commitment to learn can apply)
