Digital Transformation for Small Businesses: Technology Adoption in the UK.
Summary/Overview
The digital world is continually evolving, so it’s more important than ever for small businesses in the UK to keep up to date with the latest digital transformation trends.
Experimenting with new technologies can help streamline the way you run your business – like creating reports or invoices – and even help you future-proof your business.
Find out all you need to know about small business digital transformation with Adobe Express, including where to automate processes and how to utilise AI to your advantage.
What is digital transformation?
Digital transformation is the process of integrating digital technology into all areas of a business, changing how your company operates and how it delivers customer value. A small business digital transformation should consider both internal and external processes – including your employees and customers.
It’s a business culture change, which forces you to challenge the norms and get experimental. Digital transformation in small to medium enterprises (SMEs) can include using cloud-based software, all the way to embracing AI systems.
Plus, it’s only getting bigger, with worldwide expenditure on digital transformation estimated to reach $3.9 trillion (approximately £3.1 trillion) by 2027.
Examples of digital transformation in the UK.
Whether you run an online shop, local café or other UK business, harnessing digital transformation the right way can take your small business to new heights. It’s worth remembering that it not only involves new technologies, but also the overall structure, workflow, management, and company ways of thinking.
Here are a few examples of how you can utilise digital transformation in your business.
Automating data-heavy processes.
Consider making particularly data-heavy processes a little easier. Automate where you can save human power for creative outputs. You may wish to automate payroll tracking, stock checks and accounting activities.
Repetitive tasks like pulling sales reports or sending out emails are also prime candidates for automation. You can even schedule social media posts or advertisements to help streamline your marketing efforts.
Switching to hybrid or remote working.
Digitalising your company can help you make the leap and join the 87% of UK businesses that have already adapted to hybrid working. Project management tools, cloud-based file storage and virtual meeting and messaging apps can all make the hybrid working experience a lot more cohesive.
This type of digital transformation allows people to work together, regardless of where they are based in the UK, which helps to prevent remote workers from feeling isolated.
And allowing your employees to work from home could help you attract new staff from a wider talent pool too. So, even if your business is based in Bristol, you could still attract employees from London to Glasgow.
Utilising AI to analyse data and gain insights.
Over the last few years, digital change has accelerated, with over half of SMEs in the UK using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help run their company.
AI has the power to help UK businesses of all sizes improve their performance. It can come in handy for project management tasks, all the way to market research and customer service support. From reducing time spent on everyday tasks to efficiently analysing and processing real-time data and transforming customer experience, AI can be a game-changer.
Integrating cloud-based systems.
Cloud-based systems can help knock down data silos and aid integration across multiple teams and channels. You can turn documents into PDFs and share them on your company drive so other co-workers or departments can access them. This makes it easy to collaborate with others in real-time, regardless of location.
Prioritising customer-centricity.
One goal for SME digital transformation could be to prioritise customer service. You may want to follow in the footsteps of brands like Decathlon and Very.co.uk, by installing chatbots on your website or through your social media channels for 24/7 customer service responses. You can also use digital tools to analyse customer data and identify pain points to improve your offering.
Free digital templates from Adobe Express.
The benefits of digital transformation for small businesses.
There are many ways that a small business can benefit from a digital transformation journey. Some of the key advantages include:
- Streamline business processes and improve efficiency. By automating repetitive tasks, you can save time and reduce the chance of human error.
- Perfect the customer experience and retain brand loyalty. Identify customer pain points and respond to problems 24/7 with digital customer service tools.
- Cut costs and optimise resources. Where you can, remove manual processes and reallocate talent to creative areas of the business to be more cost-effective.
- Boost collaboration across teams and departments. Moving to a digital platform allows you to share documents with your team, regardless of where they work.
- Reflexively adapt to changes in the market and customer expectations. Leverage your customer data to improve decision-making and customer experience.
- Digitalise documents. Remove the burden of manual filing and paperwork handling to further streamline your workplace.
How to digitally transform your UK business: 6 steps to success.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to a small business digital transformation. Rather than tackling everything at once, you can evolve your company in stages.
Here are six steps to follow to propel your UK business into the digital world. Bear in mind that these steps will differ depending on your sector, your offering, and who you market to.
1. Build your brand online.
First of all, it’s essential for your small business to build an online presence as more of the UK public continue to shop, research and connect with businesses online. Start by building a website and social media profiles, so your customers can reach you easily.
Make sure to keep your branding consistent as you make the switch to digital. Your brand identity needs to remain strong to attract new customers as well as satisfy existing ones.
2. Create your strategy.
Next, it’s time to make a plan. There’s a lot involved with going digital. It’s important to know your areas of focus, your budget, and your main goals, so you and your team can stay on track. You’ll also need a digital marketing strategy to create traffic to your website.
You might want to get started by identifying your company’s current weaknesses and your existing processes. Where could digital tools help you the most? What areas could be digitalised to improve efficiency? A SWOT analysis might help you here.
3. Optimise your content.
It goes without saying that you’ll need to invest in the right technology across every level of your business. But you’ll also need to find ways to communicate with your audience across various different platforms.
In order to stand out in a crowded digital marketplace you’ll need to create content optimised for search engines to help your website break through the noise. You may also want to invest in social media advertisements and video content to keep things fresh.
4. Optimise internal processes.
Internally, you need to choose platforms that can help improve your workflow. Automating processes, like onboarding and offboarding employees, can help streamline your business. Furthermore, digitalising employee records can help you manage and access data quickly and easily when needed.
You can also implement cloud-based software and other platforms to help improve communication and collaboration across your team.
5. Digitise documents.
Keep things neat, organised and efficient by digitalising any paper documents, such as contracts and invoices. Not only does this save office space, but it also helps to keep things manageable and prevent documents from going missing. It also means that as time goes on, documents can be easily updated or edited as necessary.
Reducing the burden of manual filing will help streamline your business and allow your employees to focus on more important tasks.
6. Automate analytics and insights.
Investing in AI technology that can analyse audience data can help you improve your offering to better satisfy existing and future customers. Once you can access your customer data, you can utilise it to alleviate pain points and improve their experience with your business.
Analyse and track metrics from sales data, marketing efforts and customer care. Understanding the data behind your business and how it affects costs can also help with future decision-making.
Editable templates to help you digitally transform your business.
Useful things to know.
How do I start digitalisation?
To start your small business digital transformation, you can begin by building an online brand presence. Create a website and social media platform so your customers can easily engage with you. Then, you can start digitalising your processes, from going paperless to automating business procedures, such as onboarding employees.
Do all small businesses have to go digital?
It’s becoming increasingly difficult for UK small businesses to avoid going digital. For example, since April 2022, all VAT-registered businesses in the UK must keep digital records and file tax returns using software compatible with HMRC’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative.
What are the barriers to small business digital transformation?
While digital transformation can bring an abundance of benefits to a small business, there are some potential barriers that could slow the process. These include resistance to change – if employees are comfortable with existing systems, they may be less likely to want to adopt new processes – and potential security concerns.