Skills & costs are top SME grouses

The latest Asia Business Monitor (ABM) survey by UPS has revealed that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore continue to be plagued by two familiar problems – a shortage of skilled workers and rising costs.

The difficulty in attracting and retaining skilled talent is a perennial problem for small businesses the world over; it is a particularly acute problem in Singapore where the SME sector employs well over half of the total workforce. This labour crunch is only going to get worse and rising business costs are unlikely to reverse their trends anytime soon.

So what is a small business owner to do?

I believe the only viable long term solution is to take a critical look at how resources are being used and managed in your operations. Most SMEs are far from efficient in the way that they utilize their resources, be they warm bodies, equipment or facilities.

SMEs must take a leaf form the big company playbook and automate their business processes and resource management. The tools exist today to allow savvy small businesses to adopt the best-practices of larger organizations at relatively low costs. Technology also makes it possible to collaborate effectively with a range of external partners – thus enabling smart SMEs to provide sophisticated services with relatively modest internal resources.

To succeed in today’s economy, you don’t need massive offices, an army of staff or very deep pockets. You do need to effectively leverage technology to become far more efficient and customer-focused than ever before.