The year ahead in 2023 for SMEs will be extremely challenging and the business landscape as we know it will rapidly evolve.
But many SMEs embraced the change in 2022, leveraging trends to reduce costs and boost sales… and this will continue.
☑️ Automation (as always) can help reduce costs and increase efficiency. You might not be constantly looking for new ways to automate your business, but some of your competitors certainly will be.
☑️ Customer engagement will continue to evolve. You only need to look at a few of 2022’s viral TikTok campaigns (see: Binley Mega Chippy) and the 10X impact on sales for the SMEs getting this right, to glimpse the potential.
☑️ Artificial Intelligence is becoming more sophisticated (and easier to apply in your business) every single day, which can improve both the customer experience and make better and faster decisions, underpinned by cloud computing.
☑️ Workforce 2.0 is emerging through a combination of technology and necessity. With finding and retaining the right people a big challenge right now, business owners are having to simultaneously become more flexible and more creative in what they offer staff. Hybrid working is not just about location, but also about using tech / AI to do the job itself.
☑️ Data (big and small) used to be something of a buzzword, but collecting, managing and interpreting data in near real-time is essential for any type of business, where the smallest of margins can have a massive impact.
☑️ Cybersecurity is of course vital to protect your data (and your customers’ data) and systems. Not only do you need the right processes and systems in place to protect the data itself, but to remain legally compliant.
☑️ Protection of the environment will become a much more important differentiator. Climate change and the loss of biodiversity are accelerating trends. Doing nothing is no longer an option.