Singapore and Hong Kong 2021 Budgets Help SMEs To Digitally Transform and Scale

Despite last year’s incredible challenges, we have seen SMEs in Singapore and Hong Kong grow and thrive, leveraging technology and innovation to become more efficient, resilient and competitive. Government commitment and funding to support businesses in their digitalisation journeys has played (and will continue to play) a crucial role in this success.

The recent Budget 2021 announcements in Singapore and Hong Kong saw both governments  announce new initiatives and extend existing ones to help equip businesses with the right digital tools, leadership and support, but how does this translate into real world value for SMEs?

In Singapore, the Government’s fiscal package - themed “Emerging Stronger Together” - focuses on setting businesses up for long term success.

Ongoing support for initiatives like the Productivity Solutions Grant, Market Readiness Assistance Grant, and the Enterprise Development Grant help businesses bear the costs of adopting new digital tools.

We’ve also seen continued traction for other government initiatives introduced over the last two years, like InvoiceNow, the nationwide e-invoicing system which helps SMEs across Asia improve payment process efficiency, accuracy, and transparency.

In Hong Kong, the government continued its support of the Distance Business Programme, which subsidises the costs of IT solution adoption and employee training for enterprises. Overwhelming response to the programme saw the government allocate additional funding of HKD 1 billion to extend it.

SMEs looking to take advantage of these government initiatives must first introduce the right internal frameworks and training to ensure a seamless transition from their current processes. It can be daunting to implement company-wide changes, but the end result is an organization better equipped to face future challenges.

At the recent Xero:Community Budget webinar co-hosted by Xero and the Singapore Business Federation, Thomas Po, the co-founder of Singapore Japanese gourmet online grocer and Xero customer Zairyo, highlighted two digital skill sets that will be crucial for SMEs: Data analytics and social media. Data analytics can provide invaluable insight on customer preferences and behaviour, allowing businesses to optimise their customer engagement, from product offerings, marketing channels and content to distribution, payments and new services. Social media creates deeper customer connections through increased opportunities to interact, converse and build an engaged following and community.  

Zairyo increased its sales by 400 per cent in 2020, leveraging government support to digitalise more of its business and financial operations with tools like InvoiceNow, online delivery platforms and inventory tracking systems. They credit Xero in helping them to create greater efficiency by generating, sending and tracking invoices and bills more easily, alerting them to payments that are due, resulting in a reduction in time spent on accounts by 75 per cent and reducing human error by about 80 per cent, while allowing them to track key metrics such as gross profit in real time.

Zairyo is a clear example of how SMEs can thrive amidst unprecedented uncertainty, by efficiently making use of the support channels available to them. Business owners who want to remain competitive in this new landscape should take full advantage of the resources within the SME community, including other small businesses, accountants and bookkeepers and digital solution providers - who can collectively guide them on how to leverage cloud technology to drive resilience.

At Xero, it is our mission to help to improve the lives of business owners, their people, partners and communities. It is a commitment that we take seriously, and we are always ready to share our insights on how companies can leverage technology to transform and improve their business processes.