Business

Why cloud technology will aid SMEs in being ready for a recession

Published

12 months ago

October 7, 2022

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By Damian Hanson, Co-Founder & Director of CircleLoop

The state of the UK economy has been brought to light in the news by reports of high inflation and skyrocketing cost of living. Additionally, SMEs are facing uncertain times as a result of the most recent announcement that the Bank of England increased interest rates to 2.25%, the highest increase in almost thirty years. There is no doubt that we are currently experiencing one of the most taxing macroeconomic environments in a while and we anticipate additional rate rises next year.

According to Barclays SME Barometer, three-quarters of small and medium-sized companies are worried about the long-term impact the cost of living crisis, soaring energy bills and rising inflation will have on their business. So how can adopting technology changes and making investments in cutting-edge cloud technology will help them navigate these turbulent times?

What is likely to happen?

SMEs are the backbone of a healthy economy and are important contributors to job creation, new markets opening and global economic development. Unfortunately, when a recession hits new enterprises, startup funding and valuations suffer the most. Less money will be available for investment, making it more difficult and expensive to raise the capital needed to launch or expand a business. Some businesses won’t even get a chance to launch before they fail.

The difficulties differ for more established SMEs that depend less on funding. As there’s less requirement to start something new and more emphasis on holding onto what they already have, the aim is to withstand the pressures long enough to survive the recession. Some SME owners will need to acknowledge that growth may be unattainable during this time and focus on simply surviving the crisis instead with minimal losses.

Sales in some industries such as retail and consumer goods could struggle as customers tighten their belts. SMEs need to be cost conscious by streamlining business operations to reduce costs if needed and satisfy the declining demand for goods and services,

Recession-proof your tech stack

All of this seems a little bit gloomy. However, your businesses can stand a better chance of being recession-proof with a little early planning and innovative thinking.

A good place to start is by reviewing your software and technology stack. Your company’s use of technology has a big impact on how much it costs to operate. Inefficient hardware or an overabundance of overlapping software may not seem like a huge deal in normal circumstances, but during a recession, these problems can quickly become a drain on money, time, and resources that SMEs simply don’t have. Using software delivered in Software as a Service (SaaS) models is likely to be lower risk because these can be activated and scaled up or down, or even off, as required without long contractual commitments.

While it’s important to invest in the appropriate support for your business, it’s equally important to reevaluate those demands during a recession. Are there any technologies that your company doesn’t use frequently enough to make the investment worthwhile? Or perhaps there are ones that are vital but create more work because they don’t do everything you need and a better solution is required?

Advancements in cloud computing for business now enable easy integration of common tools. For example, a cloud-based business phone system used by your sales team can be connected to your CRM app(https://www.circleloop.com/integrations/hubspot), Office 365 and your email provider on one platform that’s easy for them to use and gain insights from, increasing their productivity and chances of success when it matters most.

The significance of maintaining marketing activities throughout the crisis is another recession-proof strategy to take into account. Many businesses changed their plans for scaling up and drastically reduced their marketing expenses during the 2008 recession.

Another recession-proof tactic to consider is the importance of retaining marketing efforts during the recession. During the 2008 downturn, many companies diverted their plans away from scaling up and cut marketing budgets dramatically. Later research found businesses that retained their marketing strategy and budget emerged from the financial crisis stronger, outperforming the market average by more than 30%. Food for thought in the coming months.

Stay Flexible

A final but important note for SMEs and startups facing uncertain times ahead is to be prepared to adapt. Stay flexible.

As the recession turns the market upside down, what worked for your business in non-recession times may no longer be effective. Refusing to acknowledge the rapid changes happening to your customers, your employees and your supply chain is the equivalent of sticking your head in the sand. Making significant changes to your business model or pivoting your offering in the middle of economic uncertainty may seem high-risk but it could also be the difference between survival and failure.

Cloud-based or remote-enabled business tools are becoming more and more important for creating a modern and future-proof organisation. During a recession, businesses can’t afford to ignore the additional benefit of agility and flexibility afforded by these technologies during the turmoil. The abundance of data that these technologies can easily supply will turn into the crucial insights that your company needs to track to assure growth once the dust settles.

It’s not impossible for SME’s to survive a recession. Those that survived the past recession emerged from it leaner, more effective, more adaptable, and more conscious of how they define success. Instead of overreacting or underreacting to what lies ahead, adopt this mindset to stay afloat.

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Business

In-platform solutions are only a short-term enhancement, but bespoke AI is the future

Published

14 hours ago

September 27, 2023

editorial

By Damien Bennett, Global Director, Principal Consultant, Incubeta

If you haven’t heard anyone talking about artificial intelligence (AI) yet, then where have you been? Conversations about AI and its advantages to society have been a key talking point over recent months, with advances being made in the generative AI race and ChatGPT opening a whole plethora of possibilities. Many have highlighted the advantages of AI, but notably it’s ability to create human-like content.

But these discussions have only scratched the surface of what AI is capable of doing. It is for far more than just essay writing, adding Eminem to your rave and photoshopping dogs into pictures.

In marketing, we have been using AI for years, for everything from analyzing customer behaviors to predicting market changes. It’s enabled us to segment customers, forecast sales and provide personalized recommendations, having a huge impact on how our industry works.

It is even, for the more savvy marketers of the world, becoming a key tool in maximizing budget efficiency – which is apt, considering over 70% of CMOs believe they lack sufficient budget to fully execute their 2023 strategy.

Now, as AI becomes more intelligent, the number of efficiencies it can unlock continues to rise. Not only can it help brands get the most out of their available resources and identify any areas of waste, but it can also help highlight new opportunities for growth and maximize the impact of your budget allocation.

The trick, however, is to veer away from the norm of using in-platform solutions with a one-size-fits-all approach and create your own, bespoke solutions that are tailored to your business needs.

Pitfalls of in-platform solutions

In-platform solutions aren’t by any means a bad thing. In fact, built-in AI tools have become increasingly popular, owing to their ease of integration, user-friendly interfaces and minimal set up requirements. They come pre-packaged with the platform, offering the user the ability to leverage AI technologies without the need for in-depth technical expertise or the upfront cost of building a solution from scratch.

However, the streamlined and accessible nature of in-platform AI solutions comes at the expense of complexity and customization. They are designed to serve a broad user base, but for the most part are built using narrow AI solutions with predefined features and workflows.

This makes them great for assisting with common AI tasks, but they lack the flexibility to tailor functionality towards unique business requirements or innovative use cases, limiting the potential efficiencies and cost savings that can be unlocked. Additionally, if a business’ competitors are using the same platform, they are probably using the same AI solution, meaning any strategic advantage gained from these will be reduced.

Bespoke AI solutions, on the other hand, may carry a higher initial investment – but can offer a significantly more attractive ROI over a short amount of time.

Why customized and adapted AI is the key

The difference between bespoke AI and in-platform solutions is similar to that between home cooked food and a microwave meal. Yes, it is more time consuming to prepare, and yes it likely carries more of an upfront cost, but the end result is going to be far more appealing and will carry more long-term value (financially… not nutritionally).

That’s because bespoke solutions, by nature, will have been tailored to address your brands specific needs and challenges. These custom-built tools allow for much greater efficiencies by streamlining workflows across different channels, automating more complex tasks, and providing deeper, more relevant insights.

The increased level of optimization can significantly improve productivity and reduce operational costs over time, offering a higher ROI. The increased flexibility of bespoke AI also allows brands to implement innovative use cases that can significantly differentiate them from their competitors.

The data analyzed can be specifically chosen to match business requirements, as can the outputs of the AI tool, providing a significant advantage when understanding and acting on the insights provided.

Additionally, these tools are, by nature, more scalable. They can be updated, upgraded and expanded as needs change, ensuring they continue delivering value as the business grows. They can also be designed to integrate with any existing IT infrastructure, from CRM systems and databases to marketing platforms and sales tools – leading to more efficient and effective decision-making.

Managing finances with AI

It’s no secret that AI in marketing automation has, and will continue to, revolutionize the way marketing is done. It has a bright, if slightly terrifying, future and can help CMOs to unlock new efficiencies, maximize the impact of their budgets and increase their ROI. And as this technology becomes more advanced, its impact will only increase.

But we already know that…and so does everyone else.

So, in order for businesses to make themselves stand out from the crowd , they must look to fully adopt the power of AI. Creating a customized and unique AI solution could be the way to set yourself apart from your competitors. A bespoke AI tool can provide brands and businesses with features unique to them and their business needs. As a result, companies will benefit from more useful data and better results to make more data-driven decisions for their business. Ultimately, this will help brands to maintain a competitive edge over their competitors, deliver ROI and most importantly optimize their budgets.

Business

Exploring the Transformative Potential and Ethical Challenges of AI in Wealth Management

Published

2 days ago

September 26, 2023

admin

Nuno Godinho, Group CEO of Industrial Thought Group

In recent years, the advent of AI has sparked both excitement and scrutiny within the Wealth Management industry. The technology’s capabilities, including but certainly not limited to generative AI algorithms like ChatGPT, offer a new dimension to data analysis, market prediction, and portfolio management. However, while it presents a promising avenue for enhancing decision-making and elevating client interaction, AI also carries inherent challenges that demand careful consideration.

Benefits of AI in Wealth Management:

In a world where CX is key, AI enables wealth managers to provide personalised advice, improved portfolio performance, real-time insights, and convenient access to information and support. Previously it has been impossible for advisors to deliver hyper-personalisation at scale; now, AI-driven customisation lets them tailor investment strategies and recommendations to their clients’ unique financial goals, risk tolerance, and investment horizon.

AI algorithms can also analyse vast amounts of data to identify trends and opportunities, resulting in potentially higher returns on investments. And, more widespread use of automation will gradually reduce the cost of wealth management services, meaning higher-quality investment advice at a lower price. This is critical as firms fight to stay relevant for modern investors disillusioned by traditional advisory firms and private banks.

Relationship-wise, there are many other advantages. AI-driven data analytics make it easier to gain a deeper understanding of an investor’s needs, preferences, and behaviours, all of which help to build long-term relationships. Through predictive analytics, firms can differentiate their service and proactively identify new investment opportunities, such as emerging market trends or underperforming assets. At the same time, chatbots and virtual assistants facilitate constant communication to answer queries and increase engagement. By strategically integrating AI technology into their operations, firms have the power to optimise top and bottom lines, strengthen client connections and position themselves for long-term growth.

Navigating the Ethical and Practical Challenges:

While AI holds remarkable potential, major obstacles must be overcome. With AI’s reliance on large amounts of data, ensuring client data confidentiality, managing consent, and complying with global data protection regulations like GDPR are significant challenges. Another issue is algorithmic bias – as AI learns from data, it may inadvertently perpetuate inequalities or biases present in the training datasets used. Vigilance is necessary to ensure that AI systems don’t amplify these issues. A key concern is the absence of standard governance, leading to a lack of accountability and transparency. Black-box algorithms can make decisions without providing clear explanations for their reasoning, making it difficult for clients and regulators to understand and trust AI-driven outcomes. Overall, the responsibility for AI-generated recommendations remains complex, requiring collaborative efforts to establish robust regulatory frameworks.

Striving for Data Integrity and Reliability:

The efficacy of AI-driven solutions hinges on the quality of training dataset they are supplied with and rely upon. Therefore, ensuring accurate, unbiased, and comprehensive datasets is paramount to generating trustworthy insights. The absence of standardised data sharing can lead to skewed results, ultimately impacting the quality of AI-generated advice. Transparency in data usage, validation, and generation reasoning will be pivotal to cultivating client trust and minimising systemic risks, which ties back to the absence of standard governance, as the output from AI-generated advice will only be as good as the data sets provided. We need to understand the “lineage” of all data used and generated by the algorithms. Until the industry can come to some accord on how we plan to use all of our respective data, it will be prone to various biases and fragmented advice, which will lead to liability and reliability issues down the line. It’s worthwhile wondering whether we can see the industry opening up in an age of data equals value.

The Role of Collaborative Partnerships:

Amidst these challenges, collaborative partnerships emerge as a potent avenue. Established wealth management firms can harness the expertise of FinTech AI companies to augment their capabilities while mitigating the risks associated with AI adoption. A symbiotic relationship, where innovative AI solutions are developed by trusted partners, helps safeguard against potential pitfalls and aligns with the pursuit of ethical, data-driven decision-making.

Looking Ahead: Striking a Balance for Sustainable Progress:

As we journey into the AI-powered future of wealth management, it’s evident that a balanced approach is essential. The integration of AI has the potential to expedite the transition to wealth management 4.0, revolutionising personalised client experiences and advisory services. However, this progress must be underpinned by clear ethical guidelines, data integrity, and collaborative partnerships. Striking this equilibrium promises not only a more informed, efficient, and personalised industry but also one that upholds the principles of transparency, accountability, and client trust.

In conclusion, AI’s impact on the wealth and asset management landscape is profound, offering unparalleled insights and opportunities. While navigating challenges will be crucial, a collective effort to harness AI’s power while ensuring its responsible application will pave the way for a resilient, future-forward industry.