You already know that large businesses have embraced the concept of “digital transformation”, which enhances collaboration, strengthens customer relationships, and improves data security. But do you know that small businesses, too, can benefit immensely from digital transformation? There are various ways of digital transformation for small business success.
How the pandemic pushed forward digital transformation
The Covid-19 pandemic sped consumer adoption of digital services and products, making it necessary for small and medium enterprises to undergo a digital transformation to survive, grow, and thrive. Likewise, digital transformation offers SMEs an approach to leverage innovative new technologies and strategies to drive sales, reduce expenses, and enhance operations to improve income streams, swiftly achieve goals, and avoid disruptions. Furthermore, it can assist small- to medium-sized enterprises compete with much larger ones by putting them on an equal footing.
And while the path to a complete digital transformation for small business would appear to be incredibly difficult, there is currently a logical procedure that firms can follow in a time- and cost-effective method to get around this.
7 ways digital transformation drives small businesses success
Are you ready to discover how digital transformation can impact your small business? Suppose you are wondering where even to begin. In that case, we’ve outlined some of the top business benefits of digital transformation for small businesses and how you can use it in your company to achieve growth.
Delivering improved customer service
While digital transformation can affect almost every part of an organization, customer experience will have the most significant influence. Recent technological advancements, such as eCommerce purchasing and tailored content, have benefited consumers.
When discussing about customer experience, we don’t refer to someone who visited your website and completed a transaction. It is actually the result of all the contacts and experiences your consumer has with your company throughout their whole customer journey, from the first time they encounter your brand to the point at which they make a purchase and all subsequent interactions. Digital transformation for small businesses is crucial in managing everything related to customer experience, from website user experience to digital marketing efforts. By applying innovative tech solutions, businesses can avoid frustrating customers with poor website navigation, unresponsive pages, and unclear marketing strategies and create a positive impression. Adapting to technological advances and incorporating a digital strategy is essential for businesses looking to improve their customer experience.
Automation can help save time and money
Most small businesses already have some level of automation in place. Still, despite workflow automation’s significant contribution to digital transformation, many small and medium-sized businesses have yet to take advantage of the opportunities to automate several aspects of their operations that are currently done manually.
Thanks to modern digital automation technology, you can concentrate on high-value projects that optimize the company for a competitive advantage. For instance, automating the laborious screening of CVs, scheduling interviews, phone calls, and feedback gathering can restructure recruitment if you manage a recruiting agency. This significantly reduces time and allows your staff to concentrate more on essential areas.
Data provides deep insights resulting in intelligent decisions and improved results
Although it has been demonstrated that using data for decision-making improves business outcomes, many business owners still find it difficult to make data-driven judgments and instead rely on all conventional methods of doing things. It is crucial to monitor data and have an end objective to go from data to insights and results. However, several free analytics tools and social media business accounts are available to track customer interaction and web traffic data. A/B testing is also a useful tool for experimenting with variants and gathering more data to make business improvements.
Offering better and more affordable communication channels
In a digital world, consumers are bombarded with promotional content, making it crucial to find your ideal customers and communicate with them on their preferred channels. Businesses can connect with their customers better by having crisp, persuasive messages that they tailor to their (customers’) unique needs and engage their audience—while filtering out the ones who may not be interested. Thus, it is essential to shift from traditional methods to digital platforms to reach a wider audience and work on a customer strategy to create personalized content.
Crisis-proofing
The pandemic has definitely taught us that businesses should be able to pivot their business model swiftly. This is a key aspect in today’s rapidly changing environment, especially for small businesses. A digital transformation is a strategic approach that transforms all aspects of your business, enabling you to reinvent your business model for success. Aligning your customer, service, competitor, branding, and marketing strategies with your digital strategy will support your digital platforms. The positive effects of digital transformation are exceptional and, therefore, outweigh any reason not to make the transition.
Making new ways of working possible
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a cultural change for many firms, now paying off in higher levels of employee engagement. In fact, 52% of employee respondents to the 2022 Work Trend Index poll indicate they’re likely to think about switching to hybrid within a year. They said they are now more prone to putting their health before work. In a nutshell, they desire a better working environment. Moreover, many firms realize that workplace flexibility can help attract and keep top talent now that hybrid and remote work are mainstream. It is smart business to use innovative, collaborative tech to support this new reality.
Modern apps make it feasible for employees at any enterprise to collaborate, share information, and track projects effectively. Additionally, they save time and money by allowing small firms to communicate with faraway clients and suppliers. This improved communication made it possible for many businesses to thrive during office closures and even grow. It also demonstrated to employees and business owners that daily trips to the office were optional to maintain productivity.
Deterring online threats
For a good reason, data security is currently one of the top worries for small-business owners. According to research, between 50 and 75 percent of ransomware victims are small enterprises, and overall, ransomware attacks have increased by 300% in recent years. Your best line of defense against the phishing, social engineering, web applications, and mobile malware that today’s hackers deploy in network attacks is no longer traditional antivirus software. Such cyberattacks are not only bothersome but also risky and expensive. Unfortunately, security risks are probably going to keep getting worse. There are currently 921 password attacks each second, or 79.5M per day, according to a recent Microsoft report, a statistic that nearly doubled in the previous year.
The best method for an enterprise to safeguard its data, employees, and revenue is to transform its security strategy digitally. Updating from traditional antivirus software to an enterprise-grade security solution may secure a small business’s apps, data, identities, and devices. Owners benefit from having peace of mind and more time to expand their firm.
Takeaway – Simplifying digital transformation in small businesses
Although it could seem like a monumental endeavor for a small organization, digital transformation is anything but that. Actually, it is merely the process of harnessing technology to enable people to accomplish more. By going digital, your small business will save time, preserve data, and enable you to concentrate on what matters most: your clients.
Visit Saxon.ai, where you can book a consultation with a product specialist to learn more about the best solutions for your company and to understand how our technologies can assist digital transformation in your organization.