Keeping up with the disruptors: how tech can help

From Airbnb to Uber, disruptors can instill fear in even the most established companies, but there’s no reason why SMEs can’t be just as agile and competitive

The disruptors are here, but can SMEs beat them at their own game? It’s the question many companies are asking as they face their fiercest competition ever: savvy, agile, tech-focused startups.

Success stories such as Airbnb and Uber have recently led the charge in shaking up their sectors, giving technology-driven startups a reputation for changing the way traditional economies work.

According to digital specialist Fi Bendall, chief executive of Bendalls Group, disruptors work by either improving an experience or meeting an unexpressed need: “Uber’s created a model where they’ve gone for low-margin stuff and they’ve taken the market.”

However, she also says such disruption is actually nothing new, and shouldn’t be feared by SMEs: “You can blame it on the ‘geeks’ or the ‘techs’, whoever you want. But disruptors have been around forever.”

The key for SMEs is to embrace a disruptor mindset and tap into the affordable, agile and fast technology that can help them win in this space.

Explore new approaches

With documents quickly shared thanks to the cloud and mobile meeting software ensuring real-time collaboration at the touch of a button, SMEs can get agile with the same speed as new players.

And, just like disruptors, focusing on customers first is a great way to get competitive, says Peter Bradd, chief executive of startup advocacy organisation StartupAUS, who believes cloud technology is the ticket to capturing customer insights from all areas of business.

“Entrepreneurs have to start out customer-centric, because they don’t have any previous business models, customer data or revenue figures. So they have to do their research. And that gives them an advantage over companies that have a long history, which traditionally look to their board or their trading history.”

Bendall identifies Virgin Atlantic as a classic example of a business that differentiated itself on the basis of customer service rather than price when it launched.

“If you have software that enables [employees] to share their ideas, you have so much more data,” says Bradd, who comments that it’s often people in the business who have the most interaction with customers and who can therefore provide the best insight into their experience.

It is this data that can enable managers to be adaptive to changing market conditions. Further, when cloud and collaboration technology is used to connect with other businesses, it can foster innovation in changing markets.

“In terms of partnering – big businesses don’t do it very well,” says Bradd, while in contrast entrepreneurs will have an abundance mindset, willingly seeking out collaborators and ideas.

“Never has there been an easier way to partner, thanks to new software,” he says.

Look for ways to upgrade easily

Whether it’s improving communication across a business to become responsive to customer needs, or enabling real-time interaction to make fast decisions, the latest technology can help SMEs get ahead.

Simple-to-download mobile services such as BlackBerry’s BBM Meetings enable true real-time collaboration, while and the newly acquired WatchDox enables DRM-protected secure document sharing, automated processes and data distribution, and they don’t require an expensive overhaul of old technologies.

“It doesn’t have to be a rip it all up and start again process,” says Bendall. “It’s an adaptive process.”

For more information on tools that can help your SME compete with the disruptors visit BBM Meetings or WatchDox by BlackBerry.

Written by: Jessie Richardson