LuitBiz

Starting and running a small business has never been easy. Geographic isolation, limited resources and not being able to access best practices have always been some of the hurdles faced by SMBs. These historic challenges can be tackled in new and better ways. SaaS is the key to overcoming many of these traditional disadvantages and is the key to the SMB sector taking advantage of the digital revolution. There is a huge market demand in providing software to the SMB sector.

SaaS completely changes the rules of the business IT game. No matter how big or small your business is or where you are in the world, SaaS allows you to compete, grow and innovate with the best. Three big reasons why SMBs worldwide should consider using SaaS business software are:

1. Any company can now base their business on best in class software: For a few dollars a month any business located anywhere in the world can have access to the best-in-class business software available globally. These include CRM, sales force automation, HRMS, accounting, document management, etc. These services that have been traditionally available only to enterprises are now made available via SaaS to SMBs using which they can streamline their business processes to increase efficiency and gain more profits.
2. Reaching bigger or more distant markets used to be about financial muscle and shoe leather: The whole process of inbound marketing – search engine optimisation, social media, pay per click, etc is now available at the touch of a smart phone screen via SaaS. Customers today actually prefer this type of selling. The days of the high paid salesman and the multimillion dollar marketing campaign are fading. Everyone can be a global player. SMBs have never had a better opportunity for growth.
3. The emergence of shared and integrated IT elements: One key feature is the emergence of shared IT elements. The cloud is an obvious starter. APIs, interdependent software and data applications and common software components link many SaaS applications. Not only can a SMB afford the world’s best software, but it can be integrated and work as one, almost without effort. Communication and collaboration are becoming essential to business success. Additionally the emergence of integrated business software targeted towards SMBs is a big boon to this sector. SMBs can just subscribe to one software that inter-relates all their business processes seamlessly and manage their entire business from their smart phones from anywhere in the world.

One concern remains. Businesses owners do have tough and busy lives. For many, their business is their life. Finding the time to take advantage of the SaaS opportunity is not simple. Awareness is a real issue. Luckily the SaaS model can also help here. SaaS is a short term, pay as you go model. There is no capital cost and there need not be a long term contractual commitment. Most SaaS companies offer a free trial of 14-30 days. So you may be able to test what works for no cost at all. This means you don’t have to do everything at once. Instead think of a different approach. Write down your 3 biggest business problems. Do a quick Google search and find the SaaS products that might help. Pick one and give it a try.

You will need to make changes to take advantage of SaaS. These can be incremental and low or zero cost. The rewards can be great. Because there is little commitment, you can ditch things that don’t work. There is a whole world of digital opportunity out there for SMBs. Get out and give it a try.