Technology has quickly advanced over the past few years and has changed the way of our daily activities especially for business. People can run a business smoothly without having to invest a lot of money. With such improvements, Finance Minister in Singapore, Heng Swee Keat announced the new budget for 2017 focus on SME Digital. The government has acknowledged that they should fully utilize the existence of technology to the max in order to achieve business efficiency.
Proud to say, Government agencies such as IMDA and Spring will provide funding and consultancy. Therefore, the Singapore government has budgeted over S$80 million for digital and data programme. It is to help Singaporean SMEs go digital under a new scheme called SMEs Go Digital Programme. It is a good move from Singapore, but after all, SMEs should look up to a prominent company who already started its business from “digital” way. This is due to the fact that a lot of startups go down.
For sure, no one wants this to happen for SMEs which just a startup company. So, it’s better to follow 3 significant efforts for SMEs to go digital.
Build real-life relationships
It’s important to build a real personal relationship instead of doing it virtually because the bond is stronger in real life. Even though SME will go digital but try to do any discussion or meeting face-to-face because people tend to lose focus if it is done virtually. If it is done face-to-face, there will be less distraction and temptation to do other works. Besides that, having personal relationship is a good way to give people nice impression and get to know them more.
Digital communication is also a good option, however it should not be done too often. People will get bored, because real life relationship, there are more interactions compared to virtual. Thus, any SMEs should do meetings or discussions in real life to experience more valuable interactions.
Make it simple and easy
Keep in your mind that simplicity is a key for business to go digital. This is because not everyone is exposed to technology in depth. So it is vital for business to make a solution easy and convenient for customers to use, thus will make the investment worth every penny.
For example is MOLPay, try to go to their site. They seek a simple way to serve their customers and it is easy for people to look up of information they want . Airbnb also great in providing the service for their customers as people can filter the price, location and everything is at the tip of their fingers.
It is essential for an engineering team to improve and share information in order to maximize their potential as SME Digital company. Set goals and make sure everyone is on their track to achieve the objectives.
3. Be innovative!
Being innovative will surely make a company stand out from other companies, but it is important to ensure the innovation made is valuable. Look at how WhatsApp totally disrupted traditional SMS and call, as it developed a system where all people can use it for free.
Instead of waiting for someone outside the region to do a breakthrough technology, with government’s support local SMEs should grab the opportunities quickly. Try to offer any service and product which is much better than the original one. Therefore, SMEs should explore and seize for the right solution to be an excellent company.
It’s not easy to change
Here is a fact that we need to accept, we know that changing process is never easy especially when you’re already in your comfort zone. But sometimes, it is good especially when you are fully aware of the benefits you will gain from it. For those who want to step forward, remember to apply these 3 significance efforts to become a successful digital business. The aim of SMEs Go Digital is to be more complete compared to iSprint by providing SMEs with support from the aspect of cyber security, data and inter-operable ICT solutions in order for Singapore to reach a higher level from where they are now.