Needs of SMEs in the Digital Age

SMEs represent all those companies that have between 0 and 249 employees. It includes medium and small companies, among which micro-enterprises (1-9 employees), small-sized companies (10-49 employees) and medium-sized companies (50-249) are usually distinguished.

What are the needs of SMEs?

SMEs are small or medium-sized companies whose strategic challenges are very important for the future. Find out what are the 5 needs of SMEs to adapt to the digital age, expand their business and advance their strategic development.

Digitization

One of the important challenges facing SMEs is digitization. Although the vast majority of small and medium-sized companies use an ERP system and have a POS to manage transactions, that does not mean that the level of automation is adequate to improve productivity.

Many small businesses use licensed, poorly updated ERP systems installed on their own systems, with the risk that this implies for data security. In contrast to this model, business management solutions in the cloud are making it easier for many small businesses to manage their billing, accounting, warehouse management, purchases or customer service through an intuitive, up-to-date tool in the cloud.

Business Expansion

Another of the needs of SMEs is undoubtedly the expansion of the business. International growth is important for a small or medium-sized company to increase its level of turnover. The size of companies is usually proportional to the assets they have, so larger companies will always have higher turnover and greater growth margin, as they have more resources.

The Internet has greatly facilitated the path of internationalization for SMEs, since if you have an online store connected to the ERP, you can start selling in other countries, without the need to open physical establishments in other legislative frameworks and languages. Of course, it is essential to effectively manage manufacturing, distribution and logistics in order to be competitive.

Talent attraction

What defines an SME is the number of its employees. Or put another way, the human capital of the company, which facilitates its growth and progress. One of the needs of SMEs is to be able to offer incentives to be able to attract employees with higher performance and who generate better results.

In some sectors there may be a labor shortage, and in others the real challenge is to attract professionals who make a difference and help the company transform its processes. Facilitating digitization and teleworking is a way of being able to access professionals in other contexts, since it is not essential for an employee to be physically in the office to be able to work effectively.

Profitability

The profitability of SMEs is another of the challenges they face. In the digital age, it will be very difficult for small businesses to sustain themselves and move forward if they do not focus their activity on market trends. Post-pandemic eCommerce growth margins offer high potential for increased sales.

But for this you need io that SMEs have systems that allow them to manage the complexity of online sales, such as an ERP system that has a dashboard for the control of performance indicators, as well as an ERP connector that allows avoiding duplication in the management of invoices, inventory and orders.

Access to finance

Finally, we must not forget that access to financing is another key for SMEs to grow at a strategic level. The will to grow a business is not enough if there is no access to finance. Programs such as the Digital KIT for SMEs and the self-employed can be an opportunity for companies to advance in their digitization and to continue developing economically and strategically.

Needs of SMEs in the Digital Age

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