Small business potentially losing billions due to unreliable tech

According to research conducted on behalf of Vodafone Business, small and medium businesses have lost an estimated $3.75bn billion annually due to unreliable tech.

The research from a sample of 323 small and medium businesses (SMB’s) with 1-199 employees, and extrapolated across the almost a million SMB’s nationally puts tech as a crucial area where improvements can have significant impacts to the bottom line.

Vodafone say the survey “delves into the real challenges, behaviours, and attitudes of Australian business owners and leaders, uncovering some critical insights”

The key findings include

• Over half (51%) of business owners admit to “winging it” with their tech strategy.
• 56% of business owners, whilst optimistic about growth, their technology won’t support that vision
• 69% of SMB report real financial losses over the last 12 months due to unreliable tech with an average loss of $3,794

Flaws in the tech strategies in SMB’s often aren’t only confined to the workplace as an “always-on” culture exists, blurring the line between work and personal life. It probably comes as no real surprise to any small or medium business owner that

• 61% of SMB leaders admit to working outside standard business hours
• 67% confess to work from personal spaces, including the couch (47%), bed (41%), or even the toilet (10%)

Furthermore tech planning is done retrospectively, often last minute and not necessarily in the most cost-efficient way that planning could have overcome

• Only 41% of SDMs say they review or plan their tech approach only once a year
• The latest tech in the form of AI sees that 24% admitting to uploading company data to public AI platforms in the last month as business owners try and claw back lost time
• 42% admit that poor planning around tech and systems causes lost revenue or unnecessary expenses.

Matthew Ball, Vodafone General Manager Small and Medium Business, says: “This data shows what we all know – small business owners are ambitious, dedicated and will get the job done no matter where they are. But there’s a real cost, to the tune of billions of dollars, to running your business reactively, waiting for that cracked phone to inevitably stop working or for an EOFY sale to roll around.

Whilst it is easier said than done, it seems crucial that SMB leaders try and plan ahead rather than formulating  a tech strategy on the fly or reacting only when a piece of tech breaks, demanding a quick and usually expensive band-aid solution.

So maybe find some time to stop, breath, analyse and develop a proactive tech strategy that can be followed throughout the year. Not easy, I know but the financial benefits are hard to ignore.