There are approximately 1,000,000 SMEs in Spain, including those that are skeptical and those that, without being so, have no interest in adopt digital tools that provides them with what they need to survive, as indicated by GOWtech. The fact that SMEs develop the ability to adapt becomes a necessity in a world so connected and with the constant changes in the market in energy prices, in raw materials, supply blockages, the rise in interest of loans, economic uncertainty, etc.
right now there is more diversity in the channels where customers can be attracted and some only move in digital environments, they are also more demanding, response times must be faster or even in real time, providers are not stable, competition is increasingly efficient, with evolutionary cycles shorter improvement periods, providing services more adapted to the market and being able to adjust more prices. And it is that the main workhorse to accelerate the digital transformation in Spain continues to be these SMEs, which represent around 99.8% of the business fabric of our country.
“SMEs have to introduce mechanisms to be resilient, we must be prepared both to face the sudden changes in the market, such as those that we have recently had due to the pandemic and now due to the Russian invasion in Ukraine, as well as the accelerated change of era that we are experiencing. by the possibilities of new technologies, customer habits and the competition itself. The digital transformation allows us to anticipate, it helps us both to turn obstacles into opportunities and to improve the organization and processes of the company, allowing us to have more stability, reduce costs, live better, know and provide better service to customers “explains Isidoro López-Briones Santos, head of digital technology strategies at the technology company GOWtech.
The Covid-19 took away 530,000 SMEs in just half a year according to a study carried out by the INE, while other companies saw their opportunity in the pandemic like ecommerce, which had a growth of more than 20%. On the other hand, there are close to 15,000 Spanish companies with export or import trade relations with Russia and Ukraine, but the consequences affect us all.
Reasons to go digital
The truth is that there are multiple reasons that justify the Spanish business fabric going digital: winning customers, reducing costs, improving the product, offering a better and more personalized service, automating processes, reaching new markets, in short, being more competitive in a globalized world. However, according to GOWtech: “Digital transformation is a continuous evolution and culture change for all employees in the company, not the purchase of a couple of basic tools.”
The alternative so that this million SMEs are not forced to disappear is, according to Isidoro López-Briones Santos, to begin by addressing at least the following key points:
- Change of mentality, do not use or take advantage of digitalization if you do not believe in them, as the saying goes ‘there is no worse blind person than the one who does not want to see’.
- Detect deficiencies, review the processes where there are more errors, delays and misinformation to be able to work, make decisions or correctly serve the client or potential client.
- Restructuring and digitalization of these processes.
