SMEs, or small to medium-sized enterprises, face some particular problems that larger businesses have evolved past. With limited resources, small or medium-sized businesses are stretched thin and are being asked to take care of more than they can handle.
Luckily, technology is here to help. Modern technology helps small businesses simplify processes and save money. Keep reading to see how technology can help make your SME more efficient, especially when it comes to delivery and logistics challenges.
What Unique Problems Do SMEs Face?
As you might know, SMEs don’t usually have the money or processes in place to overcome sudden challenges. Larger businesses have procedures in place to deal with hardships, but Canadian small businesses have to find other ways to be prepared for sudden changes.
Unexpected Tasks
Workers in SMEs are often expected to take on tasks outside of their ordinary roles. With a small team, everyone has to help with all parts of the business, even when it’s outside of their comfort zone. Not only does this result in added work and stress, but make-shift decisions must be made in critical moments to keep the momentum moving forward.
Limited Finances
Money is a clear issue for small businesses that are still focusing on growth. Money needs to be spent wisely and in a controlled manner since sudden costs can occur quickly. This means everything needs to be done as well as possible to hopefully avoid spending more time correcting mistakes.
Plus, errors need to be avoided as much as possible to limit the costs of fixing them. Mistakes cost money in fees and time, which small businesses usually don’t have the finances to resolve. If mistakes could be avoided, money could be saved.
Undefined Processes
Possibly the largest barrier impacting small businesses is the lack of implemented processes. Growing businesses are forced to solve and prevent issues as they go, which means avoiding problems can feel impossible. Rules and regulations are created over time as they discover where they are needed.
In the meantime, limited processes means more time spent problem-solving. If these processes could be created by us, but maintained by technology, problems could be avoided.
What Role Does Technology Play in SME Logistics?
In specific, SMEs often face issues when they need to conform to standards brought on by larger companies. Delivery to customers is often an expense SMEs can’t afford, but customers still expect it. Technology can help make this process much more cost-effective.
Where larger companies can afford to spend hefty amounts on delivery fees, SMEs can’t. Optimizing procedures like delivery can save plenty of time in the long run, without compromising customer experience.
Technology within delivery increases the pace of these processes and makes it easier for small business employees to work. Technology can also reduce human errors that happen under stressful and time-pressured situations.
How Can Technology Limit Problems for SMEs?
Logistics combined with technology creates more efficient processes that take away work from businesses.
Technology can be applied to delivery routes to create driver paths that spend the least amount of money on gas, traffic, and wages. Deliveries make it to customers faster when the route is made to be completed in as little time as possible.
Technology also makes it possible to improve the tracking of deliveries, providing real-time updates to customers and a live map view of their parcel location. Improved tracking of deliveries greatly impacts the overall customer satisfaction from your buyers, showing more transparency around their delivery.
The ordering process can also be enhanced by an easy-to-use dashbaord that allows for deliveries to be easily placed. APIs and plug-and-play apps allow orders to be instantly placed from your delivery partner and reduce human error in the meantime.
Final Thoughts
Technology in the logistics process can help SMEs overcome barriers. By optimizing processes to make logistics faster and less reliant on human work, delivery practices can be affordable, quick, and stress-free.
See how your SME can benefit from a technology-supported logistics process.
