New or fast-growing SMEs are in a unique position to maximise growth potential quickly in a short space of time, but are often limited by a number of infrastructure-related obstacles.
A modern business must adopt systems which enable growth instead of limiting opportunities. This has to start with digitalising the business to gain full control over all systems, processes and data. Any company, regardless of size, is facing real problems if it remains entrenched in laborious old systems and technologies.
Take Dutch company Secrid for example. It identified a need for wallets that could protect RFID/NFC cards from being accessed and copied from a distance. Secrid began manufacturing new wallets with award-winning designs, sourced and manufactured entirely in The Netherlands. Demand for the wallets rose quickly and Secrid doubled sales each year over a two-year period, expanded to 4,000 wholesalers and distributors, and grew to 12 warehouses.
Amidst rapid growth, the existing system did not give Secrid insights into its multi-site, multi-vendor manufacturing process, which feed online retail, direct and indirect trade sales. Any new system needed flexibility to meet its specific business needs.
Like Secrid, many SMEs record data in disparate places and technologies, which means the information is unstructured and disconnected. An optimal solution will enable growth and a growing business needs:
- To implement a system fast with reassurance it’ll work out of the box
- Systems to be scalable in order to add value to its growth, wherever it may be
- To be able to support different sales channels with different billing requirements
- Its team to use best practice processes and a system that’s easy to use.
By providing a single, managed, cloud-based solution, offering unrivaled scalability and flexibility, Oracle NetSuite meets the evolving business requirements of fast-growing SMEs such as Secrid at every stage of their growth.
It runs financials, CRM, ecommerce and business intelligence functionality in the cloud for 360-degree, real-time visibility across customer and financial data, complete control over core HR processes, and reports more accurately by running functions simultaneously in one suite.
After a rapid two-month NetSuite implementation, Secrid has streamlined its critical business processes and now has real-time visibility across the business, enabling it to make informed strategic decisions while partners can access insights into other partners in the supply chain.
Today’s business applications belong in the cloud and offer three key benefits that appeal to SMEs – flexibility, affordability and rapid growth.
Don’t get left behind
Investing in new technology is a crucial step for SMEs who wish to remain relevant in the quickly-evolving market. Change is the new normal, yet change can only happen if the underlying technology can support it by providing a platform for innovation at speed, allowing the business to flourish.
The cloud has become a key driver for the growth of modern businesses, creating a competitive advantage for SMEs that require powerful and scalable systems to react to market dynamics. The entire point of digital is to provide a sustainable solution that delivers long-term strategic success and allows the SME to change with the market, demand, customers and the pace of innovation.