Tech acquisition must for sustained SME growth

LAHORE: Experts say that acquiring technology is imperative for sustained growth of small businesses; they however warn that growth would be inhibited if small and medium enterprises acquire technology in piecemeal instead of the complete solution.
Software engineer Saad Syed said the many SMEs add new software and hardware gradually as they grow. Adding customer database at one time and then going for human resource package and a little later incorporating inventory tracking programme. He said this amounts to sort of patchwork we see on broken roads that lacks synchronisation. He said when software and hardware do not synchronise, it creates technological glitches that could reduce efficiency and inhibit growth. He said simplification of processes in this age of technology is essential for companies of all sizes; particularly for growing small and midsize enterprises.
Syed said the digital era is a game changer, since globalisation has connected the main street businesses to overseas markets. He said challenges in these opportunities are very complex. Challenges that SMEs face due to global reach include those in logistics, currency translation, taxation, labour regulations and other areas. He said massive data available through digital technologies has to be sorted to maximise business strategies. He said real time consumer feedback is keeping companies on their toes.
He said in the new millennium, business simplification is much more important for SMEs. Companies should learn to deal with complexity they face today or make way for newcomers. The inadequacies of a technology must be realised by the companies. He said many CEOs feel satisfied if they are intimate with their customer and the cash flows are fine. He said it may be true for very small enterprises but in order to survive they would have to grow.
Raza Arshad an expert in information technology said that a small enterprise serving a small community has to move on to larger community when it grows. The journey, he added does not stop here as you may move to other provinces and ultimately to other countries. “You cannot remain the CEO, the CFO, and the sales person simultaneously as you did when the company was very small,” he said, adding the staff size of the company must grow, bringing with it human resources issues. At the same time, he added, the number of suppliers and dealers would also increase and all matters become more complicated and time-consuming.
Arshad said as the company grows and the business owner wrestles with these new issues, he starts losing intimacy with his customers that in fact is the main strength of small businesses. Complexity of issues related with growth distances the owners from their customers. “It is at this early stage of growth that the company needs an integrated technology solution to prepare it for a complex world,” he said. In its absence it would be hard for the founder to focus on ultimate business value, which is his customer.
He said it is the technology that helps SMEs when human limits of the founder are exhausted. He said a start up can know everything that goes on in the company and everyone who works for him. But as it grows to even a medium sized company, they cannot monitor every process or every employee. “It is here the technology helps him through data management and information systems. If technology is ignored, the owner or CEO would lose control of the whole enterprise.
Arshad said three things that SMEs need in current technological era include access to real-time data besides real-time connections to customers, partners and suppliers; and most importantly a connected technology ecosystem that is embedded in all departments within the entire company.
He warned of streamlining and integrating an enterprise when it has already spent years accumulating complexity. Entrepreneurs should plan from the beginning to be simple. If a complete technological package is not incorporated at the very beginning; removing the deficiencies caused by piecemeal technological upgrade would cost the enterprise more. He said educated start ups even in Pakistan launch their small businesses with much less capital investment due to availability of the right digital tools.