Business
Why cloud technology will aid SMEs in being ready for a recession
Published
6 months agoon
By
admin
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.
Business
How app usage can help brands increase their online revenues and customer retention
Published
1 day agoon
March 23, 2023By
editorial
Arunabh Madhur, Regional VP & Head Business EMEA at SHAREit Group
Brands are continuing to invest heavily in the e-commerce market despite current market and economic challenges – and they need to. Indeed, the current global e-commerce market is valued at around $5.5 trillion. Further to that, estimates show that online retail sales will reach $6.7 trillion by the end of 2023 – and e-commerce making up 22.3% of those sales.
So despite the economic and market climate, businesses must still plan for success and cater to customer demands to make the most of the global e-commerce opportunity.
Mobile apps are key
Mobile apps are now a fundamental component of retail, as they provide customers with a convenient and engaging way to shop from their phones. The past couple of years has been rocket fuel for digital transformation, providing an opportunity for the retail industry to innovate. Whilst global trends continue to point to the user growth of Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, the trends underneath the headlines highlight significant opportunities to drive new customer acquisition, which in turn demands a targeted customer retention strategy from companies.
According to research from Baymard Institute, 69.82% of online shopping carts are abandoned and with demand expected to continue, pressure is growing on retailers to expand current offerings and create personalised experiences to tackle this. One of the big challenges e-commerce companies face, though, is analysing and maximising the behaviour of users, and bringing down the cost of their marketing and engagement against how much is earned through a customer making a purchase.
To meet customer demand, mobile apps offer a variety of features such as push notifications, product recommendations, exclusive discounts and offers, and easy checkout processes, to make the shopping experience easier for customers. By leveraging the power of mobile technology, brands can create an immersive shopping experience tailored specifically to their customer’s needs, and this in turn helps increase customer loyalty, customer return rates, and maximise online revenue.
Re-targeting and re-engaging customers
Brands should focus on re-engaging with returning consumers through a personalised strategy as this can help increase the lifetime value of users, which in turn helps brands bring the cost of their marketing down knowing that brand loyalty has been achieved. According to research from Google and Storyline Strategies study, 72% of consumers are more likely to be loyal to a brand if they offer a personalised experience.
Optimising the online shopping experience is crucial in retaining customers. Today, consumers need a more ‘human’ touch, i.e., smart product suggestions based on buying history & behaviour that helps build a one-to-one relationship between brand and buyer. In particular, push notifications haven’t just enhanced personalisation but also increased app engagement by up to 88%. Push notifications have also proven to get disengaged users back, too, with 65% returning to an app within 30 days of the push notification.
Another strategy to consider is the option of adding buy now pay later (BNPL) options at checkouts for customers. Brands that add the option of financing at the checkout allow customers to spread the cost over time, which according to Klarna has resulted in a 30% increase in checkout conversation rates.
Publisher platforms allow brands to leverage their reach and sticky user base. Especially with open platforms such as SHAREit, which can help e-commerce brands create a strong revenue conversion with higher average order value with unique retargeting and user acquisition solutions. Because users are not just sharing product links, but also sharing e-commerce apps and deals among their community. Users of these publisher platforms are also encouraged to share products and apps through platform activities.
What the future of e-commerce holds for brands
E-commerce is positioning itself as a key facet in retail, and its future. With Advancements in technology, customers can access various products and services worldwide through their smartphones – making shopping more accessible than ever. Brands must put consumers at the heart of everything they do, like never before. Offering incentives and payment options, personalising customers’ experiences and re-engaging them, as well as targeting new customers, in an effective and un-intrusive way, are all ways in which they can influence purchasing decisions and improve retention figures.
Business
Does the middle market have a financial edge?
Published
2 days agoon
March 22, 2023By
editorial
Ilija Ugrinic, Commercial Solutions Director at Proactis
Companies tend to look up the ladder when searching for ways to improve efficiency and business performance. What are larger competitors, or others outside their industry, doing right that they can learn from and implement?
What smart technologies or bright ideas do they have that could create efficiencies for them, too?
As we enter yet another likely volatile year for business, punctuated by recession, should businesses continue to only look up? And could the approach of a slightly smaller business offer more of a competitive edge?
Large corporates tend to pioneer innovation in automation by simple virtue of the resources they have. Home to transformation directors and departments, with the ability to implement large overarching software systems, they pave the way for others and are often the first to digitise their source-to-pay cycle at pace.

Ilija Ugrinic, Commercial Solutions Director at Proactis
While growing businesses understand the merits of full automation, implementing it is often too expensive and it doesn’t bring the rapid realisation of benefits that they need. They need to consider what will bring them the biggest return on investment – and the reality is that those in the middle market don’t necessarily need all the elements of an ‘all-doing’ piece of software. What’s more, without dedicated personnel to project manage a transition, they frequently lack the currency of time to be able to comfortably transform working practices, and take staff with them on the journey, without taking resource from other areas of the business.
For SMEs, digital transformation has never been quite as seismic a shift. Instead, they tend to take a modular approach, employing digital solutions only for particular areas of their finance department, where they need them. This has never been a particularly strategic move. Rather, for a growing business that values quick results and watches their outgoings with greater scrutiny than their larger counterparts, it’s something that suits them better. A modular approach also comes with very little disruption and can be implemented relatively seamlessly into their existing organisational setups.
But while growing businesses are opting for a modular approach because it’s the most cost and time effective option for them, the benefits go far beyond that. The beauty of a modular approach is that it is agile. The last three years – with pandemics, an increasingly challenging climate and shifting geopolitical tensions impacting our global economy – have only served to remind us of how suddenly, and drastically, a business landscape can change. The companies that have weathered the storm are those that have reacted and adapted quickly – those that have been capable of changing the way they do things with little impact on day-to-day operations. A modular approach can offer just that.
Businesses using modular finance technology can integrate small solutions that sync up with the rest of their processes, quickly and seamlessly – and these systems can be integrated into their existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), too. There’s no restriction of a monolithic or aging piece of software either – finance teams can add and update small solutions to their daily operations without the upheaval of having to replace or update large IT infrastructures or wider working practices within the business to accommodate the new software.
Unrestricted by entrenched and hard-to-change systems, the speed with which SMEs are able to react to market changes is miles ahead. A prompt software add-on to manage risk, or create a quick fix in response to a market shift, can be virtually a knee-jerk reaction. SME’s abilities to bend and flex to today’s world efficiently is seeing them reap the benefits of a modular approach. It’s lean, it’s fast and it’s facilitating their growth with a strong competitive edge. And as some of these companies’ growth propels them into the large corporate sphere, they’re choosing to keep a modular approach to finance. It will certainly be interesting to watch those middle-sized companies which grow to the extent that they find themselves competing in the same space. With no financial remodelling to assume a large ‘all-doing’ piece of software, they’ll be competing against their counterparts with completely different tools in their arsenal.
With technology, working life and business needs continuing to change day to day, we have another year ahead of us that will see companies running to keep pace with each other – and fast-growing companies’ approach to finance could be the silver bullet that enables them to catch up with, and even take on, big enterprises. It might just give them a competitive edge against large corporates in these turbulent times.
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