By Daisy Ndanyi, Head of Account Management at SEIDOR Africa
African economies are likely to continue being affected by increased inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic’s lasting impacts throughout 2023. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) all over the continent will need to keep on eye on cutting expenses and boosting efficiency in light of this. The good news is that there are numerous approaches to achieving these goals without sacrificing quality, growth or development.
Here are five actions SMEs can take.:
Fast track moving to the cloud
Many of today’s SMEs rely on IT to manage almost every aspect of their operations, from production and transportation to customer support and back-office management. A impactful method to lower operational and capital costs is to move away from on-premises hardware and software. You can purchase IT hardware and software on a subscription basis rather than outright.
You will only pay for the capacity and services you require, avoiding large capital investments altogether. Without spending money on new gear, you may rapidly and effectively scale operations up and down. IT will change as you hire additional staff or expand your clientele. Additionally, you won’t need to manage an internal IT department.
Outsource non-core activities
Many SMEs find that they do not need to run a full finance, HR, IT marketing or payroll function. You can outsource non-core activities to specialised freelancers or consulting firms. By doing this, you can obtain top-notch services and abilities without having to hire an expensive full-time chartered accountant or IT manager. In some cases, you could even find professional services firms that operate on a monthly, or annual, subscription basis with costs tailored to your business’s size and needs.
Limit your expenditures
Even after most SMEs have cut some costs over the past three years, it’s a good idea to keep reviewing your day to day running expenses. Make sure you are receiving favourable terms from service providers like your broadband and insurance firms and ensure you are not overspending on supplies like stationery and consumables. You can channel operational savings towards strengthening your value proposition. This increases your profitability, improves your competitiveness and helps you to grow.
Increase productivity via automation
Investing in an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system such as SAP Business One can help your business to gain more visibility into operational costs. This, in turn, can help you to optimise costs. Additionally, it will help you stay one step ahead of the competition and meet consumer demand. In addition, automating manual business processes via ERP can help you to run a leaner business that can grow without needing to add to overheads.
Optimise tax costs
By ensuring that your company has optimised its tax obligation position, you could acieve cost savings. Whilst paying your taxes on time and adhering to good governance, make sure that you are claiming all deductions to which you are entitled and that you are making use of any subsidies or incentives available to you.
By supplying security, availability, business continuity, productivity, and compliance, cloud-based ERP systems assist SMEs in lowering costs and increasing efficiency.
About SEIDOR Global
SEIDOR is a global technology consultancy that offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions and services in innovation, customers experience, ERP, analytics, employee experience, cloud workplace and cybersecurity.
With a differentiated value proposition for large companies, SMEs, and the public sector, based on a comprehensive portfolio.
· A company that cares about, and take care of people: team, customer partners, future professional, society.
· A qualified team, experts in all industries, technology activists, who have a great knowledge of problems and solutions, tackle each challenge with enthusiasm and ambition to generate business value for its customers and partners.
· A glocal company, that stands by its customers, with a progressive vision: focused on what is close to them, on the idiosyncrasies and culture of each region, but capable of looking from afar so as not to lose sight of the opportunities and challenges of the future.
About SEIDOR in Africa
SEIDOR in Africa is a leading SAP Business One Reseller in Africa and a top technology integrator.
With the use of technology, the company enables business to reduce costs, improve profitability and realise new opportunities.
SEIDOR in Africa has been taking care of the IT needs of both South Africa and Africa since 2005.
The company assists customers in growing their business by providing and supporting a globally respected and integrated Business Management Systems powered by SAP as well as host and maintain the solution within a stable and secure on-premises or in-the-cloud environment. The Business Intelligence and Analytics teams help clients build and maintain their competitive edge.
SEIDOR in Africa supports over 400 customers across sub-Saharan Africa, with offices in South Africa, Zambia, Mauritius, Kenya and Tanzania.
SEIDOR in Africa partners with clients that want to use technology to differentiate themselves.