Digitalisation is one of the main developments that will change various areas of life and even today, digitalisation is already changing many areas of life, including business processes. Sometimes this is referred to as the beginning of Industry 4.0. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear that digitalisation brings various benefits to enterprises’ businesses. Importantly, those benefits are not limited to big enterprises. Also Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from digitalisation!

For instance, using digital tools in business can save costs and time, as well as further crucial resources. Instead of an employee carrying out a repetitive task, machines can take over this process, giving employees time for more complex tasks that bring higher revenues. Thus, the automation of operative activities allows employees more time for strategic initiatives, which ultimately can give enterprises competitive advantages. Similarly, digital tools can be used to support and speed up administrative tasks, which increases efficiency and leads to improved productivity. 

Furthermore, SMEs can benefit from digitalisation because it facilitates the analysis of large amounts of data which can be used to improve business processes and understand customers’ wishes. Additionally, data analysis can help find problems and identify opportunities to increase revenue. Digitalisation also enables the development of innovative products that could not be realised before digitalisation and can improve the quality of products. Moreover, enterprises reported an increased speed of delivery and easier customer support. Furthermore, digitalisation allows for better adaptability to suddenly changing situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Importantly, digitalisation offers the possibility to connect easily to potential customers abroad, which can help smaller enterprises compete with larger enterprises operating on an international level. Considering that operating on an international level has been found to be one of the most significant activities for achieving economic growth in a globalised world, using digitalisation to facilitate international business processes is even more crucial. 

In conclusion, digitalisation holds a variety of advantages for Small and Medium-Sized European Enterprises that they should not be missing out on! In a study 80% of enterprises that underwent significant digital transformations reported increased profitability. Nevertheless, studies found that many SMEs are not well prepared for digitalisation and as a consequence have not fully made use of their digital potential. The project DigitUp helps enterprises achieve the greatest possible benefit from digitalisation. DigitUp supports SMEs’ managers and self-enterprises to familiarise themselves with breakthroughs in emerging technologies and provides free access to high-quality and up-to-date information, material, training, and support regarding digitalization.  

Sources

Full article: Giving momentum to SME digitalization (tandfonline.com) 

Digitalization and SMEs’ Export Management: Impacts on Resources and Capabilities | TIM Review

EMERALD_BPMJ_BPMJ609669 965..984 (researchgate.net)

Digitilization_Whitepaper-Letter_v04.pdf (bpm-d.com)

Open Access proceedings Journal of Physics: Conference series (iop.org)

10 Digital Transformation Benefits for Businesses (techtarget.com)