5 Ways to Thrive in a Downturn Small Business Tips

The outlook for 2023 might be bleak – but for small and medium-sized businesses, extreme cost-cutting measures can be a risky move. In most cases, restricting spend leads to restricting growth; a short-term solution that will leave your business playing catch-up when the economy stabilises.

In fact, a downturn is often the best possible time to invest in key growth areas of your business –particularly digital transformation. In its latest small business guide, Microsoft recently revealed the five key growth areas for Australian businesses to prioritise (spoiler alert: cost-cutting didn’t make the list).

Here are the top five ways to thrive and survive in a downturn.

1. Prioritise your tech spend

The transition from small to medium business can happen quickly and often leaves staff struggling to serve a customer, supplier and employee base that are significantly larger than its processes can handle. When this happens, the technologies you choose, how they integrate with each other and how quickly they can be implemented have a direct bearing on the future success of your business.

An enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform is much more than just an accounting software; it can transform your entire business operation. Modern ERPs, like Wiise, use advanced analytics, AI and machine learning to provide businesses with full control and visibility over their critical operations; from key processes like payroll, CRM and accounting, to competitive capabilities such as inventory management, employee self-service and project costing.

2. Support your staff

Employees are officially your most important asset. Seventy per cent of Australian CEOs are struggling to fill vacant positions right now – so attracting and retaining talent has never been more important. A recent Microsoft Work Trend report revealed that two of the most important factors for employees are the ability to use best-in-class tools and technologies to complete tasks, and greater control over their working arrangements.

Wiise native integrations enable staff to continue using many of the existing familiar tools that they know and love – from Excel to Expense Manager. Self-service HR features hand control back to employees, with the ability to view payslips, submit leave and expenses or even accept, reject or swap shifts via their mobile devices.

3. Cut waste, not costs

There are smarter ways to cut costs than kneejerk spending freezes.

Out-dated or inefficient processes cost businesses up to 28% in lost time, productivity and efficiency – fixing these processes will not only eliminate wasted spend, but your exposure to compliance risks. Wiise ERP is designed to help to run your business more efficiently – from inventory management to ensure only stock that sells is reordered, to purchase requisitions enabling approvers to make smarter buying decisions.

4. Forget ‘business as usual’

A growing business is a changing business – and its tools, people and processes should always be ready to change and grow with it. Businesses that take advantage of AI and automation technologies are rewarded with greater productivity and more time to focus on strategy and innovation – which, in turn, leads to greater growth.

Ensure that your business is set for growth, with technologies that are:

• Cloud-based and ready to scale as demand increases.

• Armed with AI capabilities, to provide predictive analytics that can help your business to make informed decisions based on sales revenue, staffing and spend management data.

• Able to automate processes, removing menial tasks for your staff while eliminating errors and helping your business to become more agile.

Don’t let the downturn fool you…

Despite the temptation to cut costs, the key to thriving in a downturn is to grow your business and build resilience into your systems and processes.

To find out more, read the full article Investing in a Downturn: Why ERP is Critical in Recession Intervention or download the latest Microsoft small business guide: Your Digital Journey.

CommBank Young Hero Awards acknowledges and celebrates the achievement of young entrepreneurs and business leaders 35 years old and under. Hosted annually by the Australian Business Forum (ABF) and Small Business Connections Media, the awards attract innovative talent from a diverse range of businesses and industries.

Winners are announced before the Small Business Community, VIP guests, media, friends and family at the awards dinner event marking the opening of CommBank

SmallBiz Week 2023