Artificial intelligence, mobile technologies and cloud computing are just a few of the technologies that define digitalisation. As a result of COVID-19, every market and industry sector is moving to the Digital Age at an accelerated rate. Consequently, SMEs face many new challenges such as adapting to changes, accessing capital, and keeping their supply chains open. With digitisation and human experiences critical to resilience and growth, SMEs are identifying and solving their obstacles with these top 10 priorities.
1. Gain and keep new customers
Business success depends on attracting new customers, retaining existing customers, and maximising customer relationships. SAP Business One gives you the tools to do all the above. It's specially designed for small and medium-sized organisations. SAP Business One provides a solid platform from which it can improve customer relationships fast in a technology-driven landscape. Overseeing the entire customer life-cycle from financials and accounting to inventory and customer relationship management, SAP Business One transforms the way you conduct your business. By leveraging information it maximises efficiency, reaches potential customers, and as a result, ensures profit and growth.
“SAP Business One provides a solid platform from which it can improve customer relationships, drive sales and grow fast in a technology-driven retail landscape,”
—Kanwal Shehzad, SAP Business One Consultant at Ahmed Abdullah Hamad Al Essa, Middle East.
2. Increase operational efficiency
As businesses expand, operations become more complex. As a result, productivity becomes a key issue. Digital technologies create efficiencies that drive additional levels of operational productivity, improving the bottom line, and giving you extra time to spend on more important tasks. SAP Business One provides access to the information required, fast and efficiently. It simplifies tasks, streamlines processes, and monitors key performance indicators, which are key features for a growing business.
“The biggest advantage for us is that SAP Business One provides us with the complete package: our operations are connected from the moment the sales teams identify a potential opportunity,”—Umar Rahim, Financial Controller at Ascend Healthcare Solutions.
3. Improve growth revenue
Priorities shift as businesses grow. How SMEs embrace the current digital disruption has become a crucial differentiator. With the challenging aspect to find a balance between growth and sustainability, SAP Business One uses analytics to gain customer insight, increase new market opportunities and revenue growth. “It’s an amazing software, I wish that we had done the implementation and adaptation of this years ago, not just two or three years back,”—Sulaiman Alsughayer, Financial Director and Partner Associate, Tetra Tech.
4. Reduce cost
As a result of the uncertain economic climate, SMEs operate in an extraordinary business environment, with cash flow and cost reduction as top priorities. SMEs have the same operational costs and requirements as larger organisations and are under even greater pressure to drive digital transformation while still managing operations. SAP Analytics and reporting tools can reduce operational costs by up to 60%—from financial, purchasing, inventory, sales, operations, HR, and project management to customer relationships.
“We have been able to double our sales by implementing SAP Business One without having to increase the manpower. So that’s a huge cost saving for us,”—Omar Chaudhry, Director of Business Operations at Askar Oil.
5. Business growth
A digital strategy requires an agile IT model and the ability to rethink core processes for the digital era. SAP Business One provides customised modules that cater to complex business requirements. You get full control over every aspect of your business; from analysing performance in real-time, and improving the decision-making process across the business to providing better business insights.
“Earlier, we had no effective ways of inventory tracking. With SAP Business One, it is all automated; we know exactly what is in our eight warehouses, which will significantly reduce inventory errors,”—Irtesam Haider, IT Manager at Magic Trading Co.
6. Innovation
As we shift into the digital economy, having the right digital ecosystem in place is a necessity to make innovation real for your business. SAP Business One allows SMEs to fast-track their digital innovation with intelligent technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), predictive analytics, machine learning, mobile technologies and cloud computing. Access to this technology will streamline your processes and rapidly advance your digital journey. This business software will ease pressures, cultivate further innovation, and ensure you not only survive but thrive.
“We have incorporated additional documentation and transactions into the system with the expansion of Stratus. But as it’s all managed within SAP Business One, we haven’t had to increase our workforce to grow the business,”—Nizam Hassainar, Executive Director at Stratus General Trading.
7. Promote customer loyalty
80% of businesses believe they offer superior customer service, but only 8% of customers agree. With 64% of customers pursuing relationships with brands based on reputation, loyalty is the key currency between a business and its customer. SAP provides the tools to listen to customers so that businesses can make the correct product suggestions that fit their customer's profiles. It also provides tools to capture more insights about customers to satisfy preferences and provide a customised after-sales experience.
“Our customers felt the difference between what we were before (two years ago) and where we are now; we can give them a clear image of what we sell,”—Shaimaa Noman, Managing Director of LAL.
8. Improve cash flow
Just as good cash flow keeps a business afloat, late payments, overspend, and diminishing sales can sink a business. SAP provides a solution for these problems by providing the tools to track cash-in and cash-out and gain the acumen to manage accounts more efficiently. Companies also gain insight to manage staff, supply chain, and production operations, reducing inventory and resource requirements.
“With SAP Business One, we have become a process-oriented organisation and have been managing our inventory levels efficiently. We are also saving money from having a proper blanket agreement in place with suppliers.”- Haitham Ibrahim, CIO at Riyadh Al Mutawakel.
9. Improve staff retention and development
Employees are the backbone of any business, and managing and developing performance is the most critical task of any business. SMEs that want to give their business the competitive edge see value in investing in a better employee engagement solution. SAP blends talent management and collaboration by tracking every stage of employee development. Managers can better engage, motivate, reward, educate, and cultivate talent and develop leadership programs that can fully integrate with succession planning.
“SAP Business One is an important decision-making tool. It provides the right output to management,”—Gokul Gopalakrishnan, Head of IT, Pharmax Pharmaceutical FZ LLC.
10. Enhance competitive advantage
Businesses preparing to grow into new markets or defend their home turf from international competitors will require advancements in technology, culture, and strategy. SAP Business One unlocks new business value by helping businesses accelerate their digital journey and drive better business outcomes—and it’s not just the big guys that benefit.
“We heard SAP Business One was one of the best ERP solutions, so we also opted for it—and we made the right choice,”—Cristy Sanchez Malicsi, Manager and Assistant Managing Director at Pillars Electromechanical.
SAP Business One An ERP Designed for
Small and Medium-Sized Companies
Digital transformation is reshaping industries by disrupting existing business and operating models. Change is now a matter of survival rather than choice. In the race to digitally transform, SMEs that embrace SAP Business One by partnering with established technology companies like Abacus are levelling the playing field with larger enterprises—without the hefty price tag.
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