How Technology Empowers SMEs for a Disruptive Future

If the pandemic taught the business world anything, it’s a lesson in agility. Technology is advancing rapidly, and companies must catch up if they do not want to be left behind.

In our interaction with more than 60,000 businesses through our ReadyForNext digital assessment we know that on an average, digital maturity of an MSME is between 50-55%.    

ReadyForNext platform is the self-assessment tool that we offer SMEs to evaluate their tech preparedness to cope with disruptions and how quickly they can adapt to changing markets.

With MSMEs contributing approximately 30% to the nation's GDP, it’s clear they play a significant role in immense contribution to the entrepreneurial drive, especially in the semi-urban and rural areas.

What are the challenges faced by SMEs?

SME owners still have trouble thinking beyond traditional business practices and adopting complex technology and machinery for better efficiency. It could make things difficult for them due to the high capital required to purchase high-tech equipment, machinery, and software.

They are yet to discover how adopting technology can open new horizons for a business. To help build this awareness throughout an organisation, companies need to imbibe a “top-down” approach, i.e., executives must first understand how impactful technology is for their business in the long run. Moreover, they must actively educate employees about these advancements to ensure focused efforts and maximum productivity.

For instance, your finance team can rid themselves of accounting ledgers and leverage a FinTech product that can organise and analyse your finances for the quarter, optimising your processes and giving your team time to develop ideas to drive revenue. 

As you can see, your business can tremendously benefit from digitisation. However, these changes can only be brought forth when business leaders proactively incorporate technology into their businesses.

How can technology help SMEs sail through these challenges and come out triumphantly?

Technology is the light at the end of the tunnel that SMEs need to overcome the challenges they face. Here are 3 ways digital transformation can help SMEs flourish:

1. Digitise Customer Outreach

66% of customers use at least three different communication channels. Therefore, simply reaching out to customers through traditional means doesn’t cut it anymore. Digitising customer relationships can enable multiple touchpoints to reach out to a company. This can forge new consumption patterns and create substantial demand driven by the pervasiveness of technology that exists today.

On an average, SMEs today are about 40-45%* digitally mature when it comes to reaching out to customers. They use services like Toll Free number, payment gateways, social media & digital marketing.

Digitisation offers concrete responsiveness to customers who expect a close relationship and genuine interactions with a brand. Providing an enriching customer relationship allows you to stand out of the pack with a high-value offer - thus improving your brand reputation and customer loyalty.

2. Build a Digital Workforce

The workforce today is also dynamic, like technology itself. Deskless workers make up 80% of the global workforce, and the number of smartphone users today exceeds 6 billion, which shows that the need for mobile technology is crystal clear. Employees need seamless, 24x7 access to the correct information and tools to perform jobs. It helps boost productivity and improves the overall functioning across teams. Building a digital workforce is the ideal way to go if you want your organisation to strive. 50-55%* sof SMEs have a digitised workplace, use collaboration products and are able to help the workforce connect remotely.

3. Create a Business Model with Digitised Processes

50-55% of SMEs today use emerging technologies like IoT, Cloud Security, and more. Creating a business model with a cookie-cutter approach doesn’t cut it anymore; you need to embrace technology. Employ technology to eliminate redundant and menial tasks when ideating a business model. For instance, if you are a start-up in a hyper-growth stage, your HR function can use an ATS to scan resumes instead of going through stacks of paperwork to find the right candidate. 70% of companies either have a digital transformation strategy in place or are working on one, so make sure your business catches on.

Most digitally mature SMEs adopt not just conventional but also emerging technologies like cyber security, cloud, collaboration tools, IoT, data analytics and more.

MSME who have adopted security products has a digital maturity that is significantly higher than those who have not adopted any security products.

MSMEs which account for 30% of India’s GDP are still unprepared to adopt digital techniques and platforms and are yet to implement security measures to protect their operations from the cyberattacks. More than 52% of Indian MSMEs have not yet implemented cloud-based security services, antivirus software, cloud firewalls, VPNs, cloud connect, end-to-end data encryption, or managed security services - according to the Vi Business "ReadyForNext" MSME Survey Findings. The data further indicates that MSMEs who have adopted security solutions have 1.6 times the digital maturity over non-adopters on average.

Vi Business is helping over 60K businesses digitise their support processes, such as IT, MIS workflows, etc., to simplify technological enablement.

This helps businesses become more agile in decision-making and roll out a new roadmap that involves leveraging technology to scale up their processes. 

MSMEs are the driving force of the Indian economy. At Vi Business, we believe in equipping them with the right digital tools and technology to thrive in today’s business world.

Our ReadyForNext assessment helps MSMEs gain insights into their digital readiness and access India’s largest MSME study. 

Take the assessment now