Digital transformation for small businesses in 2024

Digital transformation for small businesses can be a hugely beneficial process, giving any firm the foothold it needs to establish itself in the market. But that first step up can be the most difficult.

A lot of the guidance and advice relating to digital transformation comes with baked-in expectations, including two that are fundamental: that the business interested in what’s on offer understands where and how digital transformation can provide the greatest advantage, and that the business has in-house technical experts who are able to oversee, monitor and work on any digital transformation project.

These are bold assumptions when you consider that smaller businesses, comprising anything from a handful to a hundred or so staff, may not have any technology-specific people on the payroll or specific tech expertise on the board. What is such a business to do?

Scoping a project without in-house expertise

The first thing for any small business leader to do when seeking out a digital transformation project is to recognize what the precise needs of their business are. Some key operational signs will become apparent, as Ham Patel, COO EMEA at Oracle NetSuite, explains. Patel suggests three clear signs that a business is ready for digital transformation:

• When one has data to protect, inclusive of intellectual property or customer data.
• If and when customer load has exceeded capabilities for your existing systems, requiring constant maintenance or actively triggering downtime.
• When critical processes such as payment systems are throwing up errors regularly.

“Disjointed legacy systems can inhibit small businesses from making timely decisions, and manual processes can easily introduce errors and inefficiencies. By pinpointing specific pain points, small business leaders can make the case for undergoing a digital transformation exercise.”

Roles for a non-tech-savvy C-Suite

Where there is nobody on the senior management team with detailed technical knowledge, it is still entirely plausible to manage and complete a digital transformation project. But there are some key competencies that will be required for this to be achieved successfully.

Dr Clare Walsh, director of education at the Institute of Analytics (IoA) tells ITPro what she defines as the three key areas of knowledge the C-Suite needs to achieve this: An awareness of current digital trends and technologies relevant to their industry, an understanding of how digital transformation can drive strategic business outcomes, and an awareness of the risks associated with digital projects including cyber security, data privacy and potential operational downtime .

Acquiring fundamental understanding in these areas, and keeping it current, is crucial. Digital transformation does not stand still, and the business needs to adopt a “continuous improvement” ethos if it is to reap the rewards on an ongoing basis, Walsh explains. Work to achieve this “doesn’t need to involve hands-on technical training, but key decision makers need to understand the benefits and risks behind the decisions they’re taking,” she adds.

Raising the bar for workload performance

She suggests that C-Suite members and other senior managers join professional networks, read industry publications, and establish an advisory board with digital experts who can provide ongoing advice and guidance. The advisory board can help with monitoring projects as they are underway as well as analyzing the success of completed projects, identifying further projects, and even keeping an eye on what the competition is doing with regard to digital strategy.

Patel also offers some advice in this area, suggesting that the C-Suite should “Conduct an actual skills gap analysis so that you know exactly where to focus your time and efforts. It’s also worth comparing your workforce’s skills with market standards and those of competitors. Are others undergoing digital transformation exercises for which your company lacks the capabilities?”

Digital transformation and “enthusiastic amateurs”

Allowing or encouraging people who are technically competent but who do not have a technical role qualifying them to become involved with the organization’s tech rollout is not uncommon. It can be helpful, particularly where those individuals are enthusiastic and willing to learn, but there are also pitfalls.

Those businesses that support their “enthusiastic amateurs”, sometimes referred to as 'citizen developers' , as they move into and through digital transformation should realize that they have responsibilities to the individuals concerned, to the organization as a whole, and to the wider digital transformation aspirations when they do so. Walsh suggests businesses can exercise responsibilities in five key ways:

• “Training: Provide free access to comprehensive training programs on digital transformation principles and tools.
• Freeing up time: Adjust their workload to allow sufficient time to focus on digital transformation tasks.
• Managerial support: Provide strong support from senior management to validate their role and decisions.
• Access to resources: Ensure they have access to the necessary resources including budget, tools and external expertise.
• Mentorship: Pair them with a tech mentor who has experience in digital transformation. Perhaps approach your local university’s computer science department to point you in the right direction of finding a mentor.”

The bottom line is that digital transformation projects can be successfully completed by smaller organizations that lack in-house technical expertise.

But for lasting success, leaders must ensure their approach is well thought out and treated with a great deal of respect. The business can make use of internal expertise and enthusiasm with the appropriate supports in place, and its senior team can augment any existing skills through external resources such as an advisory board. View digital transformation as key to business success, treat it as a fundamental asset, give it respect and resources, and it can be achieved successfully.