Member Article

SMEs need to innovate to accumulate

It would be safe to say that for many SMEs, opportunity has been a word in short supply in recent years. However, 2013 – seen by many as the turning point for the UK economy – paints a different picture. This year has heralded a more positive outlook for businesses that are rising to the growth challenge and thinking bigger.

In fact, many SMEs are positive about their prospects for growth, with a significant minority even bullish, according to a recent survey among UK business decision makers. Through reassessing existing processes and challenging the status quo, these ‘innovation champions’ hope to achieve future growth through greater efficiency, improved engagement and more developed infrastructures.

There’s work to be done, however. It’s all too common for businesses to throw around buzz-phrases and wax lyrical about the end goal – but how is growth going to be achieved?

Innovation, Innovation, Innovation

Innovation is considered the most important factor for growth, even above other aspects you might think more popular such as money and finance, or management. So what’s driving it? 40% of SMEs believe that greater access to new technologies has pushed the need to innovate.

Indeed, new tools and applications are driving innovation, streamlining and enhancing business processes. Companies have reported improved productivity (40%), product development (39%) and more efficient business processes (39%) – all of which are fundamental in helping businesses achieve their growth objectives.

Challenge the norm

Nearly half of SMEs believe it’s difficult to turn data from their organisation into business insights. In order to effectively make the most of this valuable resource, businesses must step back and reassess their practices. In fact, 67% believe that challenging and evaluating existing business processes is important for achieving growth.

Come together

Departments need to work closer together in order to meet business objectives and boost company efficiency. 65% of SMEs believe that productivity could be improved through greater integration across all lines of business. For example, sales and marketing departments are most likely to drive business growth – yet only 36% and 27% of marketing and sales departments respectively, utilise technology to drive innovation. As a result, investments made in these solutions are ‘leaking out’, and companies may not receive the predicted returns.

In order to meet their goals, SMEs are reassessing and challenging existing processes, and recognising the need to align different lines of business to fully utilise assets. Above all though, innovation has come out as the most important aspect for achieving growth over the next year. The challenge for businesses will be finding ways to implement this mindset across all employees and fully harness the power of it.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by John Antunes .