5 Ways Your Startup Can Leverage Digital Transformation

Strike while the iron is hot!

This is an adage that we are all too familiar with but also ignore in favour of another classic: look before you leap.

The problem here is that sometimes we are so caught up with playing it safe that we end up spending our whole life just looking. We forget that after making the initial risk assessments (that is, “looking”), we’re supposed to leap!

Digitalisation is yet another wagon we need to jump on board while it is still hot!

This blog will focus on how you can cash in on digitalisation to boost your business, increase conversions, and get started with digital transformation in your company.

For a nudge in the right direction, read on to understand the advantages of harnessing the power of digital transformation for startups.

What is Digital Transformation for Startups?

Startup environments are quite fun to work in, provided you have an excellent and goal-driven team. On the other hand, it can become a nightmare if not streamlined properly, as a startup’s business processes are not quite completely established.

This is where digital transformations come as a boon!

So, what exactly is digital transformation? Let’s break down the fancy jargon for you!

The process of using digital technologies to elevate businesses and meet the rising consumer demands by optimising how business processes are handled, managed and monitored can be called digital transformation.

You won’t need to look far to see digital transformation examples that have taken the business world by storm! They’re everywhere! Most businesses with space in their budget to go digital do not waste time making the online switch!

Impact of Digitalisation on Small Businesses

Now, your first thought about the impact of digitalisation on small businesses might not be completely positive.

You might be concerned about the disadvantages that small businesses face due to digitalisation, such as initial investment costs that might be a little above the paygrade of small businesses.

But, as technology evolves, implementation costs are cheaper, so all businesses will take the digital leap in the coming years.

In fact, research shows that even consumers who were apprehensive about shopping online or doing business with a digitalised organisation have changed their minds after the recent pandemic. In an era of no-touch and safe-distancing, it seems the only way to thrive is to go digital.

Meanwhile, let us take a quick look at the many advantageous impacts of digitalisation on small and mid-level enterprises and how taking your business online can help you get ahead of your competition:

• • • Digitalisation has helped multiple businesses acquire new customers and even increase their sales despite the pandemic
    • Digitalisation has helped businesses streamline their work and increase the overall efficiency of operations with the help of automation tools
    • Digitalisation helps eliminate or reduce human error by removing or reducing the need for interference from human resources

How to Leverage Digital Transformation for Startups

Now, we have already got a glimpse of how digitalisation helps small businesses. Now, how can you harness the power of digital transformation to help your startup business, big or small, grow?

Startups are dynamic, with a vibrant work culture where everyone wears multiple hats.

Fun as it is, this environment can quickly descend into chaos if not monitored and streamlined properly. And if you’ve read our previous blog on why startups fail and how to avoid the common pitfalls leading to startup failure, you’ll know that 3 out of 4 startups fail within the first year. Scary, isn’t it?

But, not to worry! A digital transformation will take you one step closer to being that one unicorn startup!

Let’s take a quick look at the different ways in which digitalisation can help startups streamline their processes and realise better revenues:

Stay Agile, Through and Through

A startup is a growing being and requires constant attention or you’ll start facing bottlenecks, which is why a waterfall method of working simply won’t suffice in a workspace that is constantly trying to push new boundaries.

The simple solution? You need to stay agile.

Startups thrive when they manage to find a balance that helps them stay flexible while also meeting deadlines without fail. Staying agile lets startups move full steam ahead without too many bottlenecks and also makes the workforce much more productive.

Even if you’re an established business, bottlenecks can lead to wastage of man hours and money, so staying agile is key to business productivity. In fact, staying agile not only helps you meet deadlines, but also keeps your resources happy and free of undue stress.

Here are some of the ways a digital transformation can help you stay agile:

• • • Automated tasks and roster assignments can make sure that your resource availability is a given for any task, even the ones that pop up unexpectedly
    • Open lines of communication make sure that all stakeholders are on the same page regarding every task

There are many advantages to following an agile methodology. Take a look at the top advantages of agile methodology.

Set Up an Optimal Environment for Work

For any endeavour to succeed, the team members who drive the endeavour need to move towards a single vision, in harmony with each other. If half your team is working towards one goal and the other half towards another, it’s likely that neither faction will reach their intended goal.

Now, digitalisation has helped businesses transform the way they work, making it such that team members are more connected than ever before, even in a Work From Home situation.

Thanks to the various tools and techniques implemented by digital transformation experts, you can set up a working environment that is not only optimal, but also conducive for good work.

For example, wouldn’t you feel like getting more work done if you had a work environment that you actually looked forward to spending most of your day in?

Here are some of the ways a digital transformation can help enhance your work environment:

• • • You can work from home or even work on the go with the help of digital solutions that are designed to make your work life and that of your team members easier
    • With a digital transformation, you can create a collaborative space that encourages your team members to share ideas and suggestions across a common platform

Drive Your Business with Verified Data

Data makes the world go round these days and there’s no denying the fact that vetted and accurate data can do wonders for our business. And a digital transformation helps you do just that – augment your business with the help of concrete data.

If you transform your startup to an online space, you can easily get access to copious amounts of data that will help you analyse your business, your market and audience, your competition and their standing in the market, and come up with the best strategies to put your name on the map.

For example, wouldn’t it be easier to merchandise your online storefront if you know what your customer preferences are and which items your previous customers purchased more? That way, you’ll be able to meet your consumer’s expectations while also making sure that you do not waste time or resources.

Here are some of the ways a digital transformation can help you utilise the power of data:

• • • You will be privy to valuable and accurate data on your customer predilections, which will in turn help you make informed decisions about what to sell and how to sell it
    • Digitalisation will help you access all your business data from a single touchpoint which will help you understand your business and your customers better

Focus on What’s Important – Your Startup

At the end of the day, what is the most important thing to your business?

You got it! Customer satisfaction!

Customers are the driving lifeforce behind your organisation, and ultimately, you cannot exist unless your customers are happy with your offerings and keep coming back for more. Or send more customers your way.

If you digitalise your monotonous tasks, you’ll have more time to spend on the big picture – the growth of your startup.

Let technology turn your business into a system-driven one and you will be able to manage your time better and prioritise your business over the hundreds of tasks that come your way on a daily basis.

Here are some of the ways a digital transformation can help you utilise the power of time:

• • • With technology handling your mundane tasks, you will get more time to understand your business and plan out your expansion
    • You will also be able to invest more time in market research and strategize on the best ways to reach your audience

Automate Workflows for Process Optimisation

To err is human. To forgive is divine. To avoid erring altogether is impossible – unless you’re a machine!

Technology makes far fewer mistakes than humans do when it comes to regulating and executing business tasks. This means that if you make your business processes system-driven, then your outputs are going to improve and have negligible mistakes, if at all.

You can completely avoid the chaos that comes with bottlenecks in a startup system by organising and automating as many processes as possible. When you have automated workflows in place, you can make sure that your processes are carried out automatically without human intervention and eliminate human error as much as possible.

• • • Utilise the time you save by automating recurring tasks to learn more about the nuances that drive your market and take more calculated risks for your business growth
    • Invest more time in building your resource pool and making your business verticals stronger by leaving the small tasks to the machines

Bridge the Communication Gap Between Stakeholders

Good communication is the cornerstone of a successful business.

If you cannot communicate your ideas, then teamwork becomes quite difficult and you might start to notice that tasks will end up in bottlenecks. One sure shot way to ensure that your startup functions smoothly is to make sure that there is always a continuous exchange of ideas between all your stakeholders.

With digitalisation solutions, you can ensure that all your stakeholders ar on the same page with minimal effort by employing team collaboration methods.

A digital transformation can help you open up new and improved channels of communication, ensuring that all your team members and external stakeholders are kept in the loop of the latest developments. In a way, it’s a good system to ensure that no information is lost in transit.

• • • A digitally connected ecosystem can ensure that all your team members and other stakeholders are connected to each other at all times
    • You will be able to streamline all your internal and external communication and maintain a free flow of information with the help of communication applications

Increase Productivity and Employee Performance

If your team members do not perform, you can’t get far in your startup journey.

And digital transformations have helped strengthen teams too! With digitalisation tools, you can easily track your personnel processes and delegated tasks to optimise employee output and increase the overall productivity of your team members.

Digitalisation has actually shown not only to improve team collaboration, but also to improve team spirit among professionals.

When you’re spending less time on menial tasks, you can spend more time on priority tasks that are important to the growth of the business. Of course, all tasks are ultimately important, even the tedious ones, but let technology handle those for you!

If your business is end-to-end digitalised, you can keep an eye on employee performance and incentivise well-performing employees to spur them on further, all from a single centralised dashboard.

• • • You can integrate applications that help improve employee productivity as part of your digital transformation strategy for happier employees
    • With digital tools, you can easily monitor employee performance and make sure that hardworking employees are encouraged and given credit for their efforts

How Can NeoITO Help You Start a Digital Transformation?

With over 8 years of expertise in the digital space, NeoITO can be your ideal consultant when you decide to take the digital leap.

Whether you need to set up a digital ecosystem for your startup business or you simply wish to improve your business with a bespoke application for your unique requirements, we’ve got your back!

We are well versed in the nuances that drive consumer needs in the digital marketplace and can help you determine the best digital solutions for your business requirements. In fact, our resources are our best assets, and they are highly experienced professionals in their fields.

And of course, customer satisfaction is our first priority, which means we will curate tailored solutions for your business that reflect your values and give you the best returns on investment.

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