During the pandemic, many small businesses saw how technology can help build resilience against difficult economic conditions. To learn how SMEs can leverage technology to find success in the new normal, we spoke to SME leaders
Avinash Anand, Managing Partner, Unimark Hi-Tech Solutions LLP
Bala Nadar, Founder, Startupwala.com
Jhumki Pandey-Sinha Roy, Director of Business Operations & Customer Success, The Global Associates
Aditya Prabhu, Co-Founder and Group CEO, Secutech Automation India Pvt. Ltd.
Here are some helpful tips from them on digital transformation to other SMEs that wish to build digital-first business strategies:
Tip1: Identify areas of quick and big wins
1. “SMEs should focus on tech that can help them reinvent themselves, respond to changing customer behaviour, and upgrade their offerings.”
Jhumki Pandey-Sinha Roy
2. "Process automation is a must for any company that wants to be people-driven rather than people-dependent. And for continuous business success, it is important to hire quality talent and train them to optimise their performance within the shortest time possible."
Bala Nadar
3. “Digital transformation can have an enormous impact on sales, service, communication, collaboration, and creating a single source of truth.”
Aditya Prabhu
4. “Transparent operations and faster business processes are two definite wins from tech adoption.”
Avinash Anand
Tip 2: Unlock data-driven decision-making
5. “With the right technology, SMEs can extract insightful information from all their data with a few clicks. This replaces all subjectivity with pure data and gives the top management greater visibility.”
Avinash Anand
6. “SMEs must amply digitise to be able to make data-driven decisions in any area of their businesses – whether it is marketing, pricing, or measuring overall business performance.”
Aditya Prabhu
7. "Adopting 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."
Bala Nadar
But for digitisation to be effective, every stakeholder must embrace it.
Tip 3: Build a tech adoption strategy
8. “Look for the right solutions, get the right teams involved, roll out gradually, and find internal champions to boost adoption.”
Jhumki Pandey-Sinha Roy
9. “Spend time to understand what your business needs to improve and tackle the most painful problems first. Take a phased approach and ensure everyone is satisfied with the chosen solutions.”
Avinash Anand
10. “Think lean, smart, agile. Think of how technology can allow you to provide the best quality services at the lowest cost.”
Aditya Prabhu
Most SMEs realise the benefits of digitisation, yet struggle to get past budget and usability barriers. But technology doesn’t have to cost a bomb, and it can deliver power with simplicity.
Check out Salesforce’s Small Business Solutions to know how.
