Digitally transforming your business to increase your business performance

Are you in search of fresh business ideas that improve profitability ratios? Given that High Rentals and Human Resource restrictions are external forces that we, as small business owners and operation Managers cannot control, we can only look toward building business ideas to improve the way we manage our business. The usual way to increase profitability is to increase revenue and reduce costs. However, given the levels of competition and pressure placed on increasing expense, one major way to increase profitability ratios is to increase productivity. Changing market conditions brought about by the fast shifting digital landscape has put pressure on all businesses to adopt technology to increase business productivity.

Business Productivity is more than a buzzword. In a march 2018 report in Straits Times, it was reported that the SME 1000 ranking saw turnover and profits for smaller companies fell 11.8 per cent while profits declined 171 per cent. This means the real decrease in profitability ratio was almost double. Whilst many SME owners try to employ some form of digital technology to help with the management of various areas of their operations with the hope of improving the way they manage their businesses, very few have approached it from a holistic viewpoint. Most businesses employ technology that exists on different platforms and function independently from other solutions.

Multiple systems required for the management of business performance within an enterprise that reside in disparate systems.

Whilst each solution may be able to help in its specific function or business unit, business owners are not able to maximise the wealth of data that exists within each department of the organisation. In a time where profitability depends on the efficiency and productivity of every area of business, there is little room for too much manual coordination, repetitive processes and human error.

Leveraging technology needs to be part of the overall business plan. The difference between a business struggling to survive and a business that churns consistent profit can simply lie in the effective centralisation and use of the data that exists in the business as a whole. Embarking on a digital transformation and digitally consolidating all data extracted from all the various technologies and processes of the different departments of your business is the new minimum standard for businesses to remain competitive and profitable.

What does Digital Transformation really mean to business owners and operations managers? It’s the process of fundamentally changing the systems, processes, people and technology across a whole business or business unit, to achieve measurable improvements in efficiency, effectiveness and stakeholder satisfaction.

Business Transformation is a change management strategy that aligns People, Process and Technology initiatives of a company with its business strategy and vision. In turn this helps to support and innovate new business strategies that lead to the improvement of the business competitiveness as a whole.

Digital Transformation entails more than just the blind automation of workflows that is currently being used. It is about centralising all your key business management areas to maximise your profitability and productivity. It involves strategically planning to identify overall business objectives, key business drivers and its associated key performance indicators (KPIs).

Once the workflow processes are mapped out, it is streamlined to achieve specific performance metrics (Specific KPIs) and outcomes. Besides measuring key performance indicators (KPI’s), other areas of Digital Transformation is the ability for Business owners and operation managers to take appropriate and timely action through automated triggers and alerts. Using a Management dashboard as a control centre to monitor key performance criteria (KPI) and analysis of Business Intelligence (BI) gleaned from the business workflow management tool can allow the business owner to take appropriate actions and decisions quickly. Digital transformation can be implemented in specific workflow areas like retail operations, customer service, restaurant operations, logistics, production, and any other business workflow area that requires the collaboration of more than one department.

Through effective Digitisation you can:

1. Focus on what matters most.
2. Increase productivity
3. Increase employee engamenet and motivation
4. Increase in value stream effectiveness
5. Increase overall cost and time savings due to decrease in manual reporting
6. Empower managers to make insightful and timely decisions due the availability of transparent and just in time centralised data.

Is this the time to digitally transform your company so as to ready your business to harness the power of technology by Redesigning and Automating your business process and workflow?

Ask yourself:
1. Are you finding it more and more competitive?
2. Is your profit margin decreasing?
3. Are you having constant challenges meeting customer expectations?

If your answers indicate you may be losing competitiveness, your business will benefit from a business strategy re-calibration and , a change in approach brought about by business model transformation.

To encourage Singapore Business owners to ready themselves for today’s more complex business environment, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) has crafted some Government Grants to help reduce the financial burden Business owners face when they engage in the adoption of Business Process workflow improvement, Business Transformation and Business Process Automation.

Business Owners can apply for Enterprise Singapore for financial support for the projects that improve core capabilities and productivity. Approved projects are granted up to 80% of the Project costs. Enterprise Singapore(ESG) support projects that involve Business Model Transformation.This enterprise Singapore grant can be found Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) under the scope of Business Process Redesign and Business Process Automation.

The Business Process Redesign grant is designed to help companies review existing business processes and identify areas to improve business efficiency. This is the first step business owners must take in redesigning their workflow before introducing automation into their businesses. The scope of this specific Singapore Government grant covered includes:

1. The review and streamline of workflow and processes to reduce or remove redundant workflow processes
2. Explore how technology can be used to automate processes and reduce manpower on repetitive actions
3. Develop key performance metrics to track and measure the effectiveness of workflows

The Business Process Automation grant is designed to cover:

1. The adoption and development of hardware and software solutions.
2. The development of solutions that involve the purchase of machinery and integration of systems.
3. The training of staff to deploy these solutions.