Five ways small and medium-sized businesses can benefit from going digital
- Government’s new Help to Grow: Digital scheme offers discounts worth up to £5,000 off the cost of new digital software
- Includes free, impartial support and guidance on the best digital technology to help supercharge business growth
- Find out more and apply for a discount now at www.gov.uk/helptogrow
Investing in the right digital technology can give your business five crucial advantages over the competition, according to leading business advice body Be The Business.
Up to 100,000 small and medium-sized businesses are now eligible for the Government’s new Help to Grow: Digital scheme. Businesses across the UK can apply now for discounts worth up to £5,000 off the cost of approved customer relationship management (CRM) and digital accounting software from leading technology suppliers.
Alongside the targeted financial support, the three-year scheme, launched on 20 January, offers all UK businesses free, impartial support and guidance to help them:
- Identify the digital technology needs of their business
- Make informed decisions about which software products best meet those needs
- Successfully incorporate these products into their business
Tom Payne-Gibson, Head of Digital at Be The Business, which helps business leaders improve the performance of their business, said: “Adopting digital technology can deliver huge improvements to business performance. What’s great about Help to Grow: Digital is that it’s not just reducing the cost of purchasing new software, you also receive support on how to get the most out of it.
“Bringing in new tech to a business can transform your productivity, but there’s often a learning curve for employees using software for the first time, or if you’re moving away from a system you’ve had in place for years.
“Help to Grow: Digital makes adopting digital software easier by including advice and support, much of it drawn directly from businesses that have already made the leap.”
To give businesses a helping hand on their digital journey, Tom explains five ways businesses can benefit by being more digitally savvy.
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Save time
Digitising data means entering it once and making it available for all who need it. This can save teams time and resources.
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Be more flexible
Having a single, online source of information means teams can work anywhere there is an internet connection.
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Greater resilience
Keeping things digital makes it easier for employees to move between accounts in case of absence or departures.
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Unlock growth
By automating and simplifying processes, a technology like CRM can free up members of your sales team so they can spend more time on higher value activities, such as securing new business
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Global reach
Online trading and presence help you reach more customers, in more regions across the world. Together with CRM, you can optimise how new leads are generated and followed.
Financial discounts for Help to Grow: Digital will be available to UK businesses that have between 5 and 249 employees, are registered at Companies House, or listed on the Financial Conduct Authority’s Mutuals Register. They also must have been trading for more than 12 months and purchasing the approved software for the first time.
According to recent research conducted by the Centre for Policy Studies, 61% of UK senior decision makers in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) believe technology and digital platforms have helped their business to expand.
The Enterprise Research Centre reports there is an expected productivity gain of up to 18% for small and medium-sized businesses, when they adopt new digital technologies such as digital accountancy and customer relationship management (CRM).
The Help to Grow: Digital scheme is now open for applications. To find out more visit www.gov.uk/helptogrow
Case study
Karim Samani, managing director of TechDisinfect, which physically disinfects IT devices, says he has seen his business grow after introducing a CRM system.
“The problem was, I was maintaining the clients’ information on my spreadsheet, which wasn’t good,” Karim revealed.
“My time was becoming more important for doing marketing and engaging with clients, rather than copying and pasting information from Excel into the different software to communicate with clients.
“And just having the CRM system reduced admin time massively. On top of that, we are keeping clients’ information very, very secure as well.
“So, I think it really helped the business to grow, because we’re maintaining the client communication.
“The world is moving towards digital solutions and we need to adapt as a business. If you do not adapt to the new technology, you’re going to be left behind.”
