Effective use of technology to drive SME value creation

The middle of the road is a good place to get run over!!

Well, that seems to be the story of most established SMEs today. These firms can neither slow down in their efforts, nor can they accelerate given the existing constraints. They can neither stick to what they have been doing, nor can they innovate (proactively or reactively). Revenue acceleration becomes a victim in most cases to the profitability conundrum. Is there a solution at all? Can such companies really reinvent themselves as agile, future-ready enterprises? How can technology provide answers to this segment, which is vast, highly complex and a great value creator for any economy?

The answer is far from easy. The dynamics of these businesses are such that any change can prove drastic or dramatic. These companies exist in a finely balanced state on the edge of chaos and any change in the governing variables can prove highly disruptive. So how can such businesses ensure preparedness for the future. The answer might lie in a highly structure process of internal discovery and realignment followed by a drive towards value creation. 

Internal Discovery

The first step is understanding their realities. What this means is understanding the business metrics from a market, financial, organizational and operational persepective for their existing businesses. A single point measurement in time is not as useful as a tracking system that monitors such parameters at least over a quarter. This will give a good idea about where the business stands in terms of its ability to sustain and grow. 

Realignment

In most cases the results of an internal discovery lead to realizations that have to be implemented in the real world. Pragmatic solutions to real-life problems can lead to significant change in the health parameters. Any such realignment needs to be well thought-out, be based on market and industry realities and be cost-effective and pragmatic. Such initiatives need to be tracked on a regular basis to ensure effective execution. 

Collaborate and Co-locate

Its a connected world. The ability to be future-ready is directly linked to an organizations ability to play in tandem with the market ecosystem. If platforms for group-sourcing and online commerce are available, such models need to be embraced.  Corporate functions such as strategy, financial planning and project advisory need are critical but too expensive. Such functions can be enabled using the right blend of technology and external experts-for-hire. 

How do we do it?

An option would be to evaluate intelligence and business automation programs that have the ability to empower all the three functions stated above. Business intelligence tools and customized project management systems can ensure that the C-level executives have continuous access to data and inferences. A subscription-based cloud-hosted enterprise intelligence platform that offers advisory-as-a-service will be ideally suited to deliver such growth. 

Preparing Start-ups & SMEs and Start-ups for Growth in Uncertain Times

How can small and medium enterprises overcome uncertainty and still sustain growth? Is it possible to scale in the face of and ever changing business environment? Two questions (both interlinked in some way) which rankles every entrepreneur, start-up, family group and SME. The answer is not simple but neither is the problem insurmountably complex.

Companies and entrepreneurs have to understand that he starting point to solving this challenge is actually in accepting it. Though it might sound like something from a psychiatry manual, the reality is many companies do not recognize the enormity of the problem they are up against. SMEs which are the grass-roots innovators and last mile socio-economic value creators have struggled to adapt to change and in many cases have faded into oblivion or inconsequence. So how do companies face this conundrum?

The answer can be devised through a three-stage framework to ensure sustainability in the long run.

(Acknowledge the sources of images that have been downloaded from the internet. Any copyrighted image used is unintentional and regretted)

Strategic Vision – Agile Execution

As a consultant we keep talking about strategy, long term vision, planning and implementation. In a fast changing world, planning for 5 years and sticking to a well-laid out implementation plan itself can be a recipe for disaster. Given the pace of change, what looked rosy at the outset might actually vanish as an opportunity two years down the line making the 5 year plan redundant. One of the hallmarks of a small firm is being nimble. If the process of vision implementation leads to rigidity of purpose then the basic advantage of a small firm is destroyed.

The Solution

Define your vision but keep the execution dynamic. Instead of working on one activity that spans a long time frame work on multiple smaller activities that follow each other. This way the effort, time and costs associated with vision implementation is managed, the ability to change is higher and in the face of a game-changing disruption, the ability to reengineer is not lost. The key to this lies in the following two points that are talked about.

Human Capital Development

People are the backbone of any organization, more so in the case of a small enterprise. Many companies pride themselves on having people that have been with them for ages and have grown with the firm. This is great from a business continuity perspective but (unless managed well) could be detrimental from a change management perspective. Employees in smaller enterprises and start-ups are highly empowered as they don multiple hats and have a greater visibility across the operational lifecycle. Being in the firm for a long time or working towards a single goal could lead to tunnel vision. The ability to embrace change and anticipate disruption is hampered.

The Solution

Empower your people and continuously challenge them. Leverage your key employees to help create new ideas, foster innovation and drive change. The agile implementation framework spoken of earlier, will keep them challenged and their ability to see the result of their efforts (discussed next in this article) will provide a sense of intellectual satisfaction. In short, participative change and management will have to be practiced.

Digital Transformation

This is probably the least understood, misunderstood and most underestimated of the needs to make an enterprise future ready. When you talk of digital transformation it is surely not about big data, fancy software and high-tech control rooms. Digital transformation is the process of making your data (any enterprise data) work for you. It is about how you collect, store, analyse and utilize your data. Most companies have an ERP of some kind and some form of CRM. But do decision-makers have continuous real-time visibility of changes to the data, evolution of the metrics or coming red-flags? Does your data help you with operational decision-making? Can your data be used to simulate scenarios? Do you need someone to interpret your data for you or is it visually self-explanatory? Answering these questions is the basis for digital transformation.

The Solution

Ensure that your data is accurate, real-time and well linked up with the long term goals and short-term KPIs. Use real-time dashboards (rendered on your mobiles, tabs or laptops) to continuously stay abreast of the organizational events. Empower your key staff by letting them track progress of the company in general and initiatives in particular so that they can visually see the results of their action. This also ensures that as an enterprise you stay nimble and are able to react quicker to any changes.

These three elements are interconnected pieces of the same puzzle and one does not work without the other. But in unison they would ensure that an organization is well prepared to meet the future. Neither of these requires any massive reengineering or commitment. There will be some investment involved though, but what will be the key is a change of mind-set across the firm to embrace and face change rather than be unprepared and worried.