Microsoft research has shown that 76% of business owners have
made no provision for an economic downturn, and 86% have not sought
any advice on how to prepare for the worst, writes Robert
Epstein, business lead, small medium business,Microsoft
UK.
This is underlined by the economic survey for the first quarter
of the financial year from the British Chambers of Commerce, which
showed a significant slowdown in investment that is likely to have
profound impact on growth.
The slowing of trade and the resulting increase in competition
is a cause of great concern for businesses of all sizes. Whereas
large businesses have access to a strong senior management team and
skilled consultancies to help them through the difficult times,
most SMBs find it hard to gain access to the right advice and
tools. And yet technology can offer an affordable way to improve
business function, from helping to reduce costs to ensuring that
businesses can compete effectively.
Finance packages, such as Microsoft Office Accounting and
Microsoft Dynamics for larger businesses, can help companies gain a
better understanding of their finances and improve cash flow by
making it easier to stay up to date with the latest numbers and
ensure money is coming in. For those businesses that cite lack of
capital as a primary reason for stunted growth, vendor financing
provides customers with a simple, convenient and affordable way to
acquire their IT.
For example, Microsoft Financing's unsecured lending facilities
enable a company to get up and running with a new technology, while
paying for it over a period of time. By using alternative ways to
finance IT purchases, bank finances are left available to fund
business growth. Businesses are also able to invest in larger and
more complex technology based solutions that they may not have
previously been able to afford, such as business intelligence
software.
Software delivery innovation can also help SMBs to gain access
to products that were once out of their reach.
Software as a service (SaaS) or hosted software enables
businesses to "rent" software for a monthly price per user rather
than buying it in the traditional sense. This helps to spread
payments, but also dramatically reduces upfront costs and the need
for increased in-house IT support.
Hosted software providers will securely deliver IT capability
which can be rolled out very quickly, is always up to date and
reduces risk while providing flexibility to scale up or down as
required. A great example is a
customer relationship management system that enables businesses
to manage new prospects as well as keeping in touch with old
contacts, so that an opportunity is never missed.
Not only do flexible IT solutions reduce costs, new technologies
such as
voice over IP (VoIP) telephony can help to cut phone bills, and
using instant messaging and online meetings can reduce travel
costs, saving time and money. IT can also enable remote working and
greater flexibility in the workplace, which in turn will lead to
efficiency savings through greater staff utilisation.
For example, simply using a server such as Windows Small
Business Server provides out-of-the-box capability to enable staff
to access customer and business data easily and securely, from any
internet connected PC.
Greater productivity also helps to improve competitiveness. This
is critical in tough times, and technologies such as Sharepoint can
help teams to work together more effectively by sharing information
and jointly working on documents. However, competition is at its
highest level in an economic downturn, and business efficiency
alone will not lead to winning customers and keeping them
satisfied.
It is troubling that only 18% of small businesses have a
website, and fewer can take orders on the web, when Office Live
Small Business provides free web domain names, websites and e-mail
as well as low-cost electronic marketing capabilities. It is
essential that SMBs have a web-presence if they are to complete
effectively with larger businesses and meet customer needs.
Technology can make a real difference in hard economic times,
and it has never been more accessible to SMBs. We urge SMBs to seek
advice from Microsoft business partners on how IT can make a
difference in their businesses.