How Digital Transformation Can Benefit Your Small Business

We hear it around us all the time; the importance of digital transformation for businesses. Everyone is talking about the benefits that digital solutions offer for reducing operational costs, increasing efficiency, and better management of company data. Yet, many small businesses mistakenly think that digital transformation is not for them, or they are too slow to implement the solutions. Enterprise companies with expansive budgets are typically faster to employ new, digital solutions. But, it’s even more important for smaller companies to understand that digital transformation can also greatly impact their organization.

Here are the top reasons why small businesses stand to benefit from the digital transformation:

Automation

Automation is a direct result of digital transformation strategies in small businesses, allowing a company to redirect the focus of employees towards more important tasks. It also enables the business to shift resources towards revenue generating activities and more efficient operations.

As your small business becomes increasingly automated, it also collects critical information regarding customers, business operations and other relevant areas. This data can then be analyzed and used to make revenue-generating decisions.

Big Data

With digital transformation, small businesses can implement better data management strategies. At the core of digital transformation is the use of advanced technologies that collect and analyze data across the entire business. This data includes market share, customer trends, and competitor information.

Digital transformation technologies include software platforms that can collect and analyze this data in real time. The end result is the production of data reports that can be used to drive sales and implement more effective marketing strategies.

Going Paperless

When your business gets rid of the tons of paperwork that it uses in its daily operations, it can greatly cut on costs and improve the quality of its data. Rather than filling out manual data sheets, mobile data solutions can be used by employees to input data and transmit it to a central location for analysis. This results in fewer errors and omissions that would otherwise cause delays.

When your business goes paperless, it can improve its ability to communicate effective across various departments, and enhance collaboration.

Cloud Solutions

At the heart of digital transformation lies the ability for your business to implement cloud solutions such as Microsoft office 365, Amazon cloud services (AWS) and Quickbooks online. These cloud solutions integrate company data to a central location and enable employees to access data anywhere, anytime. This leads to greater collaboration among team members, increased efficiency, and more productive work processes.

With cloud solutions, your business can become more flexible. Employees can access important data from remote locations and remain productive even during trips and travel sessions. Your business can also collaborate in real time with other companies in multiple geographic locations when necessary.

Customer Service

The expectations of customers are rapidly evolving. Due to advancements in technology, customers now expect faster services, better communication, reduced response times and 24/7 service availability. For your business to keep up, it needs to implement a digital transformation strategy that increases its accessibility to customers.

Digital platforms that respond more rapidly to customer concerns, process payment information and maintain an accessible communication channel are critical for small businesses. Businesses should also aim at collecting and analyzing customer information so they can understand the pain points of customers and adapt to their needs.