Digital Transformation in Small Businesses

Do you remember the time when taxi sharing companies were not yet arrived? Back then, social media channels were struggling to make their way to the prevailing audience. Businesses were not into the implementation of a various mobile strategy or social media strategy and have limited customer engagement channels to deal with. No one can ever visualize that type of world ever happened!

Today, no matter what is the size of an organization, every business industry is going through a digital transformation phase or has newly walked through it.

Formerly, Forrester surveyed businesses and reported to Forbes that only 27% of companies had articulated digital strategy to enhance their customer relationship.

Do you know what digital transformation is and how it facilitating organizations to grow in this tight market?

The meaning of “digital transformation” has completely changed in the past decade. This term was the substitute for “IT,” which means a company’s capability to adapt technology to revolutionize their business operations.

But today if we talk about digital transformation, it is generally considered as a company’s digital talent that assists in preparing roadmaps and objectives for many departments, right from marketing to HR.

Why, when, and how small businesses are supporting digital transformation?

As we mentioned the fact that every business industry is going through a digital transformation and small businesses are not excluded from this phenomenon. According to the U.S Small and Medium Businesses Digital Transformation report, many small businesses are turning towards digital revolution.

They have given some rough figures that three-quarters of SMB including small, medium, and well-established firms agree on the statement that digital technology is impacting their business industry in every facet.

Let’s start with, why SMBs are investing in the digital phase?

Well, the most common reason why small businesses are participating in digital technologies is to enhance employee productivity, draw in new customers, and simplify operations.  However, the key drivers for small businesses, according to the analysis are:

• Alluring more customers (42%)
• Cost Reduction (36%)
• Responding to rising customer expectations (35%)
• Streamlining operations (33%)
• Enhancing employee productivity (33%)
• Keep up with the competitive pressures (29%)
• Capitalize on new market opportunities (23%)
• Comply with changing regulatory standards (19%)

When: Today maximum SMBs are at the planning level

Many surveys have reported that 48% of SMBs are presently at the planning phase to participate in activities that will help them to transform their businesses for the coming digital age. However, at the same time, 36% of SMBs have already executed various activities to uphold digital transformation and rest 16% still don’t have any plans for the digitalization.

If we specifically talk about small businesses, only 24% are currently implementing digital technology in their running operations, 51% are still in the planning phase, and 24% have no plans yet.

On the other hand, established and medium-sized businesses are 2.6 and 1.9 times engaged in the digital transformation as compared to small businesses.

How: Steps small businesses are taking to cope up with the digital transformation

Now, what steps SMBs are planning for improving their business operations through digitalization? Well, it ultimately depends on what area small businesses are targeting to upgrade first. For example, small business accounting has been a major obstacle for entrepreneurs as they lack skills and time. Yet, accounting is an essential aspect as it defines the success of your business. With the advent of cloud software like QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage, etc., businesses can simplify their accounting procedures in no time and generating more accurate reports than ever before.

Automating such a repetitive task is becoming popular as it is enabling small businesses to focus more on growth strategies rather than performing the non-core activities like administration, accounting, etc.

How will digital transformation benefit your small business? 

1. Improved client acquisition and retention process-

Evolving digital technologies is becoming a threat to small businesses, which are still using out of date models and relying on legacy marketing techniques. Offering innovative products or services to customers have become challenging in this technological market.

Adoption of digital transformation is giving wings to small businesses to fly high in the competitive market by offering reliable and efficient products that meet their expectations

2. Streamlined operations and workflow-

As we’ve mentioned above, maximum small businesses are turning to digital technologies to streamline their process and maintain an efficient workflow. Every type of business industry craves for efficiency, and this is what digital transformation offers.

With digital tools, you can easily automate repetitive tasks and enable your employees to focus more on strategic roles.

3. Enhanced decision-making process-

How will the points mentioned above help organizations? When upper-level management has accurate data, they can make better decisions instantly without any hassle. With informed decisions, small businesses can achieve their set goals and proliferate in the active market.

4. Increased profitability-

Digital transformation helps organizations to improve their profit margins with better execution of strategies. The more profits you will earn, the more your employees will feel motivated, and more notably, your customers will trust your brand more.

5. Enables to become more customer-centric-

The primary goal of digital transformation is to enhance the customer experience. Digitalization assist owners to work on what customer expect, what are their preferences, etc., eventually improves the services across all channels.

Bottom Line

Today more and more small businesses are tapping into digital transformation, which is eventually augmenting opportunities and allowing them to deliver efficient products or services.