SMBs remain resilient in the face of constant change

If there is one word that sums up the?mindset?and approach of?SMBs?all around the world, it’s?resilience.??

Amid ongoing uncertainty,?SMBs have?continued?to adapt?and innovate.?Pivoting to new business models; finding?fresh?ways to?win and?serve?customers; even offering completely?different?propositions to meet changing consumer needs.?

Add in additional administration, new legislation,?staff shortages, and?disruptions to supply,?and?change remains the only constant.?

An increasing number have used the pandemic as an opportunity to invest in?new?technology?to?adapt and meet these ever-evolving challenges.?Over 80% of?HR leaders?that we spoke to told us?they wouldn’t have?got?through the pandemic without using cloud-based HR solutions.?

Many?SMBs?have also started?thinking more about the?broader?impact they can have, as the pandemic has thrown economic and social inequalities into sharp relief.?Our latest research?revealed?that?over four-fifths of SMEs?(83%)?see the?recovery from the pandemic as an opportunity to?promote sustainability.?

We?have recently pledged our own commitment to help knock down?the?barriers that create?these?inequalities and play our role in creating a fairer, more positive economy.??

As we report?strong third quarter results?today,?with momentum in the business continuing to build,?I’ve been?reflecting?on?the journey our customers have been on,?and?why it’s so important that we continue to?invest in the?solutions?and support?that will?help?them?remain resilient?and thrive?through the next stage of the recovery.?

Delivering change through digital transformation??

Like so many other SMBs, Sage customers are showing an increasing appetite for cloud solutions – and they are reaping the benefits.??

When Sage?customer?Arborwood Tree Care ?moved?their operations to the cloud, it?transformed their business.?With Sage Business Cloud they?are now managing every step of their accounting process – from quoting to invoicing – in?the cloud. As well as helping them provide a better?customer?experience, it also freed?the?owners’ time to pursue a?fresh?opportunity.?As a result, they?won?a contract to shred?wood waste from?several?large building firms,?which?now brings in a?significant new?revenue?stream.??

For the?Ford Family Foundation , based in Oregon,?it was Sage Intacct?that gave them the?extra?insight they needed to redirect funds to?the?communities that?most?needed them during?the?pandemic.?They were also able to?increase?the efficiency of their?Finance team by 40% and reduce?the time to process grant payments by half.??

Arborwood?and Ford Family are?just two examples of?the?growing trend among SMBs to digitise their business.?And for those who haven’t yet made the switch, the appetite is clear. When we?recently?spoke to?over 1,600?North America business leaders,?70% of those still using?on-premise?solutions said they were planning to move to the cloud.??

Investing in innovation??

Throughout?the pandemic, we have?continued?to invest in innovation and strategic partnerships to support?our customers’?digital transformation?and remove unnecessary friction and complexity.??

As the UK continues to adjust to Brexit,?and the path for EU cross-border trading becomes clearer,?we’ve introduced new EU VAT E-commerce functionality ?in Sage Accounting to help customers do better business.?We’ve also?added new apps to our Sage Marketplace ?that will enable accountants to automate processes and focus on higher value data-driven advisory services.??

Over in France, we’ve joined forces with?Invoke ?to improve how medium and large companies manage taxation, while in Spain a?strategic alliance with BeeDigital ?will help SMBs digitise their business management and?enhance their?online presence.?And in South Africa, we are working with universities under the umbrella of?Sage Student World?to migrate them to Sage’s cloud?solutions and remove the high-cost barriers that?prevent?students accessing?data.?

Elsewhere, we?continue?to expand our AI capabilities, and have doubled the size of our Sage AI Labs team leading the work to embed AI and machine learning across the?Sage portfolio. Customers are already reaping the benefits, with our Sage Intelligent Time product allowing users to log 17% more billable hours and improve timesheet submission compliance.?

?Tackling inequalities

While creating new opportunities for many, the pandemic has also exposed and magnified societal and economic inequalities around the world.??

We know that in?today’s world not everyone is given an equal chance. Barriers like discrimination, bias, educational inequalities and unequal access to technology stack the odds against many people.??According to the OECD, minority and women-run SMBs globally have been disproportionately affected.?

We believe everyone should have the opportunity to thrive.?We’ve already launched partnerships in the UK?(MyKindaFuture ?with Jobcentre Plus) and the US (BOSS Network )?to?help give people the support they need to set up their own business. We are also calling on the UK government to provide the right targeted support so people can turn their start up dreams into reality and support an SMB-driven recovery. And we are?only?just getting started.

Looking ahead with confidence?

Our strong?third quarter results reflect the resilience and optimism we’re seeing and hearing from our customers. And the?strong?growth in recurring revenue –?including 32% growth in?cloud native – fills us with confidence.??

By continuing to invest in?new innovation?and partnerships to enrich Sage Business Cloud,?and in Sage's market presence and reach,?we?will build strong foundations that will drive further sustainable growth for our business and support the long-term success of Sage, our colleagues and millions of SMBs around the world.?