Building digital fluency in yourself or your business is vital to engage with digital business tools confidently and decisively, writes Darren Smith, chief product and technology officer at MYOB. Incorporating forward-thinking technologies will benefit the day-to-day activities of everyone in your business.

The language of business is changing. Businesses of all sizes are now expected understand the digital world, and adopt processes and systems online that will help drive their success.

Gone are the days where all things IT sat with one person or a team of specialists. Building digital fluency in yourself or your business is vital to engage with digital business tools confidently and decisively. Incorporating forward-thinking technologies will benefit the day-to-day activities of everyone in your business.

The good news? Today’s digital tools are designed to be user-friendly, and ultimately make businesses more efficient, productive and enjoyable.

Here are four ways you can build digital fluency.

1. Upskill your team

 Despite the rapid acceleration of digital adoption in recent years, MYOB modelling estimates half a million Australian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) still have no or low levels of digitisation.

A recent Productivity Commission report found that small and medium businesses suffer because of a lack of tech-skilled staff members. On the flip side, SMEs with meaningful levels of digitisation are 50 per cent more likely to grow revenue, eight times more likely to create jobs and seven times more likely to scale.

Starting with a low baseline of digital understanding can make the task of shifting to digital tools feel daunting. So it’s important for the leaders in your business to support upskilling – and to lead by example.

You can start by providing support and training, linking to business outcomes, and highlighting the opportunity to future proof employees’ skills. These will all help your team feel change-ready.

2. Adopt online business tools

From managing communication across dispersed teams, to improving cash flow and connecting with customers online, there’s a myriad of online business tools designed to help small businesses.

Not only do these tools improve communication and collaboration, and reduce errors, they can also save a lot of staff hours. For example, recent MYOB research found that four in five SMEs (82 per cent) could save up to 20 hours on invoicing per week by adopting eInvoicing.

Digital business tools ultimately give you back time by freeing up time usually spent doing manual tasks. They also enable you to learn new skills, grow future opportunities, and innovate.

From sharing files, managing projects, nurturing sales leads or powering your marketing, whatever your business needs, there’s a digital tool out there that can help. 

3. Use data to better understand your customers

By their very nature, digital business tools can help gather and understand data relating to your business and your customers.

So, data – including from your website, email marketing, social media channels and customer relationship management software – can give you a clearer understanding of your customers. Chiefly, the products they’re interested in, what they like and don’t like, and the way they like interacting with your business.

Data-driven insights empower you to make informed decisions about how you speak to and connect with your customers. This ultimately leads to a better conversion rate, better customer satisfaction and increased retention. 

4. Protect against risk

Digital fluency and transformation goes hand in hand with understanding cybersecurity and how to protect your business from cyber-attacks.

Just as digital tools have become increasingly sophisticated, so too have the tactics used by cyber criminals to hack and attack businesses. Hoping for the best or not using tools that offer advanced protection can leave you vulnerable.

Studies have shown that small businesses are more likely to be lacking in their cybersecurity practices than larger enterprises. This is usually due to ad hoc tech budgets and a lack of understanding of what’s involved. So it’s vital to be proactive about your cybersecurity.

Choosing robust tools, including SaaS, which offer more security for your data, and practicing good security hygiene is a good start for small businesses. These practices, including regularly updating systems, and conducting training sessions with the team on considerations such as how to spot a phishing attack, all contribute to keeping your business safe in a digital world.

MYOB’s new partnership with the Digital Skills Organisation (DSO) is about helping small businesses be on the front foot with digital tools. Find out more here.

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https://www.kochiesbusinessbuilders.com.au/einvoices-and-small-business/