This digital consultancy provides a silver lining for SMEs to grow their businesses through cloud solutions

According to research conducted by Bain & Company and Facebook, e-commerce sales in the region is facing an economic boom, fuelled by the pandemic-induced digital shift and as hybrid work arrangements become the norm. Yet, as many businesses pivot online, the majority lack the technical and business know-how to maximise its benefits.

To bridge this gap, Ms Candice Teo founded A Silver Lining Advisory (ASL), which specialises in cloud computing and digital consulting for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). ASL recently worked with an e-commerce business owner who wanted to explore selling on multiple channels. The business owner - a sole proprietor - did not know how to set up the inventory management system to account for stock movements and updates on both her online and offline sales channels. She was also concerned about the risks of opening a physical retail outlet due to the uncertainty of the Covid-19 situation.

After consulting with her to understand her vision and needs, the ASL team curated a technology suite for her business, including inventory management, human resources (HR), and Point-of-sale (POS) apps - all fully integrated with cloud-based accounting platform Xero.

As Ms Teo explains, by connecting Xero's platform to existing apps and add-ons, business owners are able to manage their workflows more efficiently. For her, this saved time and increased productivity. Their new inventory management app also seamlessly links the inventory of the e-commerce store with the marketplaces the store was listed on. This meant that she could receive live and accurate updates on stock as it is received and sold. Sales data from the different channels, including the physical retail store, gets pushed to Xero daily. The HR app allows her staff to clock in and out of the retail store. It also automates payroll based on the hours worked and linking back to Xero for bookkeeping of salaries.

Xero's connected ecosystem of apps enabled the team to improve efficiency, productivity and accuracy as financial information automatically synced between each system.

"This gave her the confidence to expand her business quickly, knowing that her new technological capabilities are agile enough to keep up with any changes in the economic situation," says Ms Teo.

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Having set up her business advisory and accountancy firm on her own just five years ago, Ms Teo empathises with the challenges and risks sole proprietors face. Her goal is to help micro businesses and other SMEs in her network navigate the array of challenges that come with setting up and running a business.

She says: "SMEs and start-ups don't have the luxury of deep pockets or large teams, particularly in Singapore where labour costs are high."

"Cash flow issues are also magnified when some business owners go from having a healthy and stable income to almost nothing, as many did during the pandemic, while a significant proportion of expenses continue to be incurred," added Ms Teo.

Now, she finds herself on the opposite end of the table, using her management consulting expertise and background in accountancy to help solopreneurs, SMEs and start-ups grow their businesses through digitalisation.

Her firm's service offerings have expanded to include digital consultancy and virtual Chief Finance Officer services such as fundraising support, cash flow management, and counsel on the benefits of digital solutions like Xero. This allows smaller firms to gain from the value of having a CFO, without having to hire one full time.

Ms Teo places huge emphasis on the role people and processes play in any technology implementation. Her firm's typical approach to digital transformation is a three-step process: diagnose; design, create and train; and evaluate and fine-tune.

Since the pandemic, Ms Teo has observed a significant mindset shift with more SMEs looking to implement digital solutions. Many feel a heightened sense of urgency to transform their businesses.

"With the increase in government grants like the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) for companies to adopt SaaS solutions like Xero, we have taken the opportunity to educate companies on the benefits of moving their administrative, operational and financial workloads to the cloud," she says.

Ms Teo believes Xero is a great way for SMEs to start taking more control of their businesses and finances. For SME owners who do not have a financial background, balancing the books and maintaining best accounting practices can be tedious and time-consuming. Yet, it remains one of the most important and fundamental requirements of running a successful business, she muses.

"Xero's interface is welcoming and user-friendly for newcomers. Our customers comment that Xero doesn't look like an accounting tool, rather, it feels like browsing a website," she adds.

During a pandemic or other macro social economic event, business owners tend to be much more prudent with their spending, and rightly so. That's why the SaaS model of Xero offers significant cost savings. With available add-ons from the app market such as Hubdoc, Stripe and Mailchimp, just to name a few, Xero allows SMEs to pay only for what they need and offers the flexibility to terminate any of these services anytime.

As it celebrates its 5th anniversary, ASL plans to continue digitalising their business by adopting technology such as workflow automation tools, optical character recognition and machine learning technology. It will also continue to integrate its internal systems to automate leave and availability tracking, expenses submission, corporate card spending, and more. On the people development front, team members will be trained and better equipped with the skillsets to become more proactive business advisors to clients.

Says Ms Teo: "Many of our clients' businesses have grown exponentially with our help. We also plan to expand our footprint regionally soon, and globally in the longer term to support our customer base."

For more information about Xero, click here.