Three reasons small businesses should go mobile

Mobile technology concept

When competing against larger organisations, smaller businesses often feel the need to work twice as hard just to keep up. However, what SMEs lack in size, they make up for in agility, adaptability, and flexibility.

SMEs can implement change quickly because they don’t tend to have long approval processes or multiple layers to cut through. This means SMEs can potentially improve their competitive edge by adopting new technology that lets them leap ahead of the competition.

Mobile business solutions are a key example of this; they can help SMEs operate more effectively and compete more efficiently, even with larger competitors.

We have identified three ways SMEs can benefit from mobile business solutions:

  1. Improved productivity, and recruitment and retention

A recent report by the SME Group, From Manual to Mobile: Speeding Business Success for SMEs*, a survey of small businesses found that 67 per cent of SMEs agree that mobile solutions are changing how they work and collaborate for the better. The top benefits from such solutions include improved employee productivity, access to people and information, and time savings.**

Beyond business process benefits, mobility positively affects SMEs’ employee recruitment and retention. The ability to work from anywhere opens up the talent pool, creating access to further talent and opportunities.

  1. Empowered employees

As mobile technology gains momentum, so do the capabilities of various applications. SMEs are using more than just the standard productivity and collaboration apps for their business solutions. They are using apps to manage everything from CRM to spend management.

Two examples of powerful spend management solutions are Concur Expense and Concur Invoice. These applications let SMEs track employee expenses, and review and approve invoices in real time. Since Concur uses cloud technology, information is transparent and accessible by any team member with access.

  1. Powerful mobile business solutions

Choosing the correct mobile business solution starts with reviewing current business processes. From there, SMEs can determine which practices can be improved by replacing them with mobile business solutions. Automation can dramatically reduce errors, while providing more security than is available in a paper-based processing environment.

Automation saves organisations considerable staff resources and time. Mobile and cloud-based software can help re-tool or even eliminate processes altogether.

Not only are businesses reaping the benefits of a mobile business solution, they are also feeling the impact of time and cost savings thanks to efficient automated software. As employees continue to demand more flexibility, integrating mobile solutions in a thoughtful way lets SMEs and their employees better prepare for the workplace of the future.

Murray Warner, Business Development Director, Concur

* https://www.concur.com/en-us/resources/manual-mobile-speeding-business-success-smbs
** https://www.smb-gr.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Concur-persp.pdf