Tech Essentials For A Growing Sme

Running a growing business these days requires more than just money to fund capex and opex. You need to ensure that your money goes into business processes that are not just efficient but competitive enough to reach out to the right customers

The fundamentals of doing business for an SME have changed completely. The global economy continues its see-saw battle towards recovery and the overall demand from the developed as well as developing world remains sluggish. Along with this you have commodity prices which are at their lowest levels over the last one decade. These are ominous signs if you wish for recovery of any sorts happening over the next one year or so. So, what should a small business do to grow or may be even survive in such a scenario? Go back to the drawing board and focus on developing strategies to ensure the essential parameters for growth are put on track. For instance, do you need to transform the way you reach out to your target customers? How about transforming the processes involved in manufacturing products or delivering services for your customers? Most businesses today are not left untouched by the digital revolution that’s taking place and hence need to do a lot more to leverage it effectively for deriving business benefits.

Through this story we look at all such tech essentials that a growing business should aspire for. We look at why an ERP solution in whatever form is still a musthave for a manufacturing company. We also talk about the challenges faced while deploying an ERP solution along with expert advice from SME owners who have gone through an ERP deployment and what they’ve learnt from it. We also look at essential online tools that are required to run your business online and promote it amongst major business communities spread across social media. Mobility is an essential ingredient for any successful business today and there is a deluge of enterprise mobility apps, each offering a useful business function, that it becomes difficult for a business to choose the best from the good ones. We choose the best free apps from key business areas such as marketing, finance and accounts, operations and travel to help ease your pain and save some money in the bargain!