SME SOS

The way mankind has always survived major challenges and extreme uncertainty is by banding together, cooperating, and collaborating to overcome any threat. Covid-19 has been one such unprecedented challenge, and I marvel at the many ways people have rallied to support each other, particularly the strong protecting the vulnerable. While every business sector has been hit hard, from my work in consulting and mentoring with them the most vulnerable and hardest hit sector is Small/Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Why does this matter? In countries like the US and Singapore, SMEs account for anywhere between 65 to 80% of total employment. They are vital to the economic well-being of any country and its citizens. Given the challenges that SMEs face and their importance to the economy, I wanted to see how they can be helped.

Over the past few months, I had several dialogs with SMEs to understand their needs. From these conversations, it became clear that large Tech Enterprises can play a pivotal role in helping these businesses survive and transform. 

This inspired me to reach out and engage with large Tech firms to relay SME concerns. It was heartening to see them respond immediately with solutions that can prove beneficial. I am sharing my experiences here with the hopes of finding further solutions and for more firms to step in to help where they can.

SME Challenges:

From what I have gathered, few SMEs had in-house IT staff, the function was largely outsourced along with other middle and back-office functions – the only exceptions being tech-focused SMEs.

As SMEs rush to embrace digital tools they find that even the simplest API integration requires costly 3rd party development work, therefore plug-and-play SaaS apps are the most popular choices for this segment.

The main considerations for the adoption of any new platform was:

• Cost – is it free with basic functionality (best case), or do I pay per use? As revenue is scarce nowadays, this is the primary consideration.
• Business Value – does the solution meet my business need, or can it be easily (and cost effectively) be customized to do so? Will it help automate/eliminate any existing work and future proof my business?
• Simplicity – is it fast and easy for my employees and/or customers to learn and use?
• Ease of implementation/installation/support – can I access it quickly and with minimal Tech support? Can someone help when I have issues?
• Ecosystem Compatibility – does it integrate seamlessly with other systems/software that I already rely on?
• Security – is my business and customer information secure and private, especially if this data is stored on a cloud?

Based on the considerations above, as a reference point, the following tools were popular choices for SMEs exploring solutions. This list is merely illustrative, not exhaustive:

• Employee connectivity and productivity: Zoom, MS Teams, Slack and WhatsApp
• External communications with services providers and counter-parties: MS Teams, Zoom and Blue Jeans
• Internal document sharing and collaboration: MS Office, Google’s G Suite
• Project management: JIRA, Asana or Bacecamp
• CRM: Hub Spot, Salesforce
• Accounting: Xero

What Support Have SMEs Received?

Many Large Enterprises already meaningfully engage with SMEs. For instance, AWS has created a site (https://aws.amazon.com/remote-work-learning) specifically outlining the remote working solutions they offer, along with special pricing given the current situation. As an example, their versatile communications app, Amazon Chime Pro is free until end June 2020. And, Microsoft has made their collaboration tool, Teams available for free as well. They also want to help SMEs understand and deal with cybersecurity concerns (https://news.microsoft.com/en-my/2020/06/04/partnership-is-crucial-in-helping-asia-pacifics-smbs-navigate-covid-19/). Lastly, the Salesforce APAC Business Development teams created some useful presentations for SMEs, with summarized case studies (https://lnkd.in/geXzZxq).

What More Can Be Done For SMEs?

Building on these promising examples, here are more ways that Large Enterprises can continue to help and make a bigger impact for SMEs:

1. Offer communication and collaboration tools for free or at least have entry level versions of existing Products that are free.
2. Make information and expertise easily available both in-person and online. Establish forums for SME business owners to gather and knowledge share on what’s available and how it benefits them, address questions of usage, complexity and security. Have a dedicated SME-facing team available to offer support, whether at the installation, integration or the usage stage.
3. Publish easily accessible education resources. Offer online training materials and demos so users can see the solution in action and better understand how to use it.
4. Provide customization flexibility according to business needs. Almost every solution needs some tweaks to meet the business’ specific purpose, make this facility available to SMEs as it is for large Corporates.
5. Cultivate and promote local champions. SMEs rely heavily on other SMEs for advice and guidance. Promote and share success stories, playbooks and use cases for SMEs that have undergone this transition. Have these champions front the SME Forums mentioned earlier.

These aren’t the only SME needs. Access to funding is a critical need.

Most SMEs voiced that they only had between 2-8 months of cash reserve, after which they have no money to stay in business. While operating more efficiently won’t compensate for all the income shortfall, it provides some breathing room and opens up avenues for additional innovation.

With countless stories of SME fortitude and the willingness of Enterprises to get involved, Covid-19 has provided an opportunity for greater collaboration and cooperation. Here’s to continued, productive Tech Enterprise and SME partnerships!