Grow Faster by Starting Simple: New Study on Small and Medium Business Success

Diane Harvey
Updated on

New research  reveals the importance for small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) to grow faster and design their businesses to run simple from the beginning.

The announcement was made at the SAP SME Summit being held in New York City on Nov. 10, 2015.

Businesses add new software and processes as they grow in size. This introduces complexities into their business, that can create a series of dis-jointed solutions that can stiffle efficiency and growth. According to a survey conducted  of SMEs conducted by  Knowledge@Wharton and SAP, 72 percent of business leaders and team members say business complexity has effected efforts to meet their  goals. Over 30 percent said it “strongly inhibited” that ability, and 58 percent pointed directly to technology complexity as the culprit.

While  companies see the need to leverage technology in the near future, only about half (49 percent) of senior leaders believe business simplification is of significant strategic importance today. That number jumps to 65 percent when asked if they believe it will be of significant strategic importance within the next three years. Looking ahead, 47 percent of respondents believe they will be using self-service tools when they are making decisions within the next three years, yet only 19 percent are currently using this kind of support.

“Business simplification is much more important to small and medium business than ever before,” said Rodolpho Cardenuto, president, Global Partner Operations, SAP. “The interconnected global economy has opened opportunities to small businesses that never existed before, but they come with new challenges as well. If these businesses think and plan from the beginning on how to run simple in the long run, they will grow faster and perform better.”

Small and midsize businesses need secure solutions that help them to start simple and stay simple with minimal risk or disruption to services but also grow faster. The path towards simplification requires a strategic plan that will get them to being digital, connected and able to grow their business. Running simple in the digital economy was identified as being more important the larger a business becomes. The earlier small and midsize businesses can design systems to help them stay simple, the faster they will grow.

To find out how Signum can help your business grow faster, call 01244 676 900. 

Search

Get a free system audit

Provide your contact details and one of our experts will get in touch to arrange your free system audit and health check.

Let's talk business

Provide your contact details and one of our team will be in touch to arrange a chat with one of our industry experts.