Leveraging digitalisation for business growth
It is critical for small and medium-sized enterprises to continue digitally transforming, in order to remain competitive in today’s dynamic, ever-evolving landscape
ROUNDTABLE PANELLISTS:
- Koren Wines, managing director, Xero Asia
- Dr Kao Wei Hsing, group chief executive and founder, ProHealth Medical Group
- Kelvin Ng, managing director, Foodtalks
Moderator: Paige Lim, journalist, The Business Times
The Covid-19 pandemic pushed many companies to digitalise. How has this affected industries?
Koren Wines: Covid-19 certainly accelerated the move to the cloud for businesses and industries worldwide. For some industries such as hospitality, many of those shifts were largely temporary, with customers returning in-person post-pandemic.
Others such as retail saw significant and more permanent changes in consumer behaviours and preferences, with digitalisation resulting in a substantial shift in operations and growth.
What were once primarily brick-and-mortar businesses serving local communities, today have sizeable online shopfronts to service customers across the country and worldwide.
Retail businesses have seen a significant boost through digitalisation, by leveraging online marketing and social media, digital payment gateways and technology to streamline and automate their inventory processes.
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This has increased operational efficiencies and enabled warehouse and stock management, as well as quick order fulfilment.
Dr Kao Wei Hsing: The introduction of telemedicine, online booking systems and electronic medical records has greatly improved patient care and operational efficiency in the healthcare sector.
Equally important is the digitalisation of accounting and finance. Healthcare providers now understand that running a clinic involves more than just patient consultations, but also robust financial management and strategic planning.
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Kelvin Ng: In the past, Foodtalks would pay our suppliers of raw ingredients using cheques. However, this was a troublesome process as suppliers would have to collect the cheques physically at our office.
The pandemic forced us to change the way we conducted business. Due to the implementation of safe distancing measures, we had to change our mode of payment from cheques to bank transfers. While we had some suppliers that were not accustomed to digitalisation yet, all of them have since made the transition to accept bank transfers.
Our business-to-business customers, which we cater meals for, have also gone digital. While most of them paid us via cheques in the past, 95 per cent of them are now using bank and digital transfers.
How have digital solutions helped companies overcome challenges and stay competitive?
Wines: Digital solutions are huge enablers for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to streamline operations, enhance customer relationships and innovate, allowing them to maintain a competitive edge.
Through Covid-19 and beyond, they have played a crucial role in the success and survival of thousands of SMEs in Singapore by enhancing their productivity, improving customer experiences, enabling data-driven decision-making to inform strategy and opening access to global markets, among others.
Digital accounting tools, for example, automate repetitive and mundane – yet critical – tasks such as data entry and multi-currency adjustment. This allows businesses to free up manpower and resources to do more big-picture thinking, such as analysing sales data to determine which products to restock or discontinue.
Dr Kao: Adopting digital solutions has been pivotal in addressing ProHealth Medical Group’s key pain points, especially in our accounting and finance operations.
Implementing Xero’s accounting software has streamlined our financial processes, providing real-time financial insights that are crucial for strategic decision-making.
Automated invoicing and expense tracking have reduced administrative burdens, allowing staff to focus on higher-value tasks. We now receive e-invoices from suppliers through the digital Peppol platform, eliminating the need for traditional hard copy or PDF invoices.
Lastly, integrating our Clinic Management System with external agencies has improved our operational efficiency. Rather than accessing various portals separately, our clinics can now manage all tasks within a single system; manual data migration has also been eliminated. As a result, our team can better utilise their time on more strategic tasks.
Ng: Space is a common challenge for businesses with a central kitchen, as there needs to be a balance between the kitchen and the office. Digitalising has helped us reduce the office space needed to store documents.
Our third-party accounting firm uses paperless accounting, and we use optical character recognition technology to convert paper documents into digital ones, saving storage space.
We have also created a database to electronically archive all our food safety records and supplier invoices. This makes it easier for us to pull out certain records during audit checks, instead of having to sift through stacks of files.
How does your company balance digital transformation with employee development and welfare?
Wines: Digital transformation goes hand-in-hand with employee development and well-being.
The digital automation of routine and repetitive tasks allows employees to develop higher-level skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, adaptability and creativity. They can focus on more complex and impactful activities and increase the value of their contribution.
Upskilling employees with digital skills not only enhances their professional development but also contributes to their overall welfare, creating a more satisfied, motivated and capable workforce.
Dr Kao: At ProHealth Medical Group, we invest heavily in training programmes to ensure our staff are proficient in new technologies. For instance, we engaged a professional firm to help integrate the Peppol e-invoicing platform into our operations and train our employees on how to use it.
We also adopted digital rostering and attendance systems with biometric ID login. This streamlines staff rostering and attendance clocking, as well as improving efficiency and accuracy in payroll, attendance monitoring, and claims submission.
Open communication channels allow us to involve employees in the transformation process, giving them an avenue to voice their concerns and for us to take in their feedback.
By fostering a supportive environment and prioritising professional growth, we ensure our team remains engaged, skilled and motivated throughout our digital transformation journey.
Ng: For our company to embark on digital transformation, we had to first educate our employees on the benefits of going digital and work with professionals to embark on this change.
While some staff were initially resistant to digitalisation, they have since learnt how to handle and operate the new software after attending training sessions organised by our solution providers. This gives them the opportunity to upskill themselves.
We have also received positive feedback from employees on how much time they have saved in their day-to-day operations.
How can SMEs take the first step in going digital? For those that have done so, how can they go further?
Wines: Foundational tools, such as cloud accounting or customer relationship management, are great entry points for SMEs looking to embark on their digital journey. They are easy to implement and add immediate value with increased visibility, efficiency and productivity gains.
SMEs should also work with their accountant or business adviser to evaluate their existing workflows, as well as identify pain points and inefficiencies where digital tools can make a significant impact. This makes the transformation process infinitely easier, more seamless and successful.
The Xero ecosystem is another great resource for SMEs to tap as they progress with their transformation. Xero’s app store has more than 1,000 third-party solutions that integrate seamlessly with the Xero platform to help SMEs manage various parts of their business operations, including human resources, payroll, reporting and consolidation, expenses, order and inventory management.
Business owners can pick the tools they need through our plug-and-play solution partners.
Dr Kao: For SMEs embarking on digitalisation, developing a clear strategy aligned with business goals is essential. Start by identifying areas where digital solutions can add value, such as customer service or operations.
Engaging the right partner with expertise is crucial for a smooth transition. For instance, we partnered with accounting services provider Singapore Corporate Services to implement Xero’s accounting software and the Peppol e-invoicing platform. Their ample experience in accounting digital transformation guided us through potential challenges and project management.
Meanwhile, SMEs that hope to go deeper in their digitalisation journey can consider leveraging data analytics and integrating advanced tools such as artificial intelligence (AI)-driven diagnostics and telehealth platforms.
Ng: Start by tackling one’s mentality towards digitalisation, which is the most difficult part. Many SMEs are family businesses that were able to become successful without the use of digital tools during their time. The second or third generation of leaders will therefore need to convince the older generation to go digital today, in order not to fall behind.
As there are many solutions out there in the market, SMEs should study their own needs and only adopt solutions that are suitable for their business. They also need not invest in infrastructure such as physical servers, as most solutions are subscription and cloud-based.
What are new trends that make it critical for SMEs to continue digitally transforming?
Wines: Generative AI is a game changer across industries and applications, enhancing efficiency, creativity and customer engagement.
It automates routine tasks and frees up employees for higher-value, strategic activities, while data-generated insights can further inform decision-making.
The technology can also enhance and personalise marketing, improve customer service and experiences and assist in content creation, from drafting emails to designing graphics.
By embracing digital tools, small businesses can stay agile, innovate continuously, and meet evolving customer expectations. This ensures their sustained growth and relevance in an increasingly digital market.
Dr Kao: In the healthcare sector, telemedicine and digital health apps have helped to meet growing demand for convenient, accessible services from patients.
Data-driven healthcare, leveraging predictive analytics and AI, is crucial for improving patient outcomes and operation efficiency. Personalised medicine, facilitated by digital health monitoring and genomic data, is also on the rise.
It is vital for healthcare SMEs to embrace these trends to meet shifting patient expectations, as well as enhance service delivery and stay competitive in a dynamic landscape.
Continuous digital transformation will enable businesses to adapt and thrive in the future healthcare environment, ensuring they meet the highest standards of care and operational excellence.
Ng: “Do you accept credit cards?”, “What is your PayNow UEN?”, “Any QR codes we can scan for payment?” These are just some questions our sales team receives every day. More hawker stalls in Singapore have also adopted QR code systems to accept cashless payments.
As more customers move towards digitalisation, businesses that cannot keep up with them will be left behind. AI is something we cannot ignore. We are now looking at creating an AI bot that can advise and take orders from our customers after office hours.
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