Budget friendly digital tools to boost business productivity

In today's competitive landscape, it is vital for businesses to seek ways to improve efficiency while driving growth. Yet this is a challenge for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as high operational costs and inefficient processes can hamper growth.

Here are some tips on how you can tap on budget-friendly digital tools to boost productivity for your business.

Tip 1: Tap on digital solutions that can improve business efficiency and cost savings

Managing and reducing cost is as important as growing revenue. Digital tools can be highly effective in helping your business operate more efficiently and thus cut costs. In a national survey done by the Singapore Business Federation, businesses have reported that they see continual improvements since pivoting operations to digital transformation. These include increased productivity, operational optimisation, and cost reduction as the core benefits.

In fact, the UOB Business Outlook Study 2023 (SME & Large Enterprises) reports that 64 per cent of Singapore businesses foresee spending more on digitalisation in 2023. In addition, 35 per cent of companies in Singapore are digitalising their business processes, in an effort to cut costs. Whether you are looking for tools that can help you increase efficiency or meet your business growth needs, UOB BizSmart offers a comprehensive suite of digital solutions from accounting, human resource and payroll, to digital transactions and marketing. You can also connect some of these solutions, for example, accounting solutions to the UOB SME app to gain key financial insights, making it easier for you to monitor expenses and identify cost-saving opportunities. Accounting solutions such as AutoCount, Enterpryze, Financio, QuickBooks Online and Xero helps you to keep tab on your expenses, increase accessibility and scalability. These benefits can significantly streamline your financial processes, improve efficiency, and provide valuable insights to support your business growth.

Implementing digital solutions to enhance efficiency for your business might sometimes require an opportunity cost, such as spending resources that could have been used elsewhere. With nearly 40 per cent of businesses wanting easier access to funding, schemes, or tax rebates to support their digitalisation journey, UOB has partnered government agencies like the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), to support SMEs with initiatives to become digitally ready.

These initiatives include sector-specific Industry Digital Plans (IDPs), digital advisory, and Start Digital Packs, which aim to develop a business environment that supports digital-first innovation and competitiveness. UOB's Start Digital Packs¹ feature a wide range of solutions and digital tools that can enhance your business productivity and capabilities. SMEs can take up any two Start Digital¹ solutions and enjoy at least six months free usage and payout of S$400¹, providing peace of mind from financial worries while ensuring enough time to train staff, streamline new processes and for the business to explore and get used to the applications.

Tip 2: Utilise digital tools to enhance customer outreach and business visibility

According to the UOB Business Outlook Study 2023 (SME & Large Enterprises), digitalisation is helping businesses to improve productivity and become more customer centric. Besides achieving higher productivity and better business performance through digitalisation, businesses surveyed also benefitted from improved customer experience, increased customer outreach and delivery of better-quality products and/or services.

Through UOB BizSmart, businesses that are looking to extend customer outreach and business visibility can leverage on marketing tools to help increase engagement through targeted efforts. Tools like SKALE is an All-in-One Marketing Platform offering retailers the ability to combine their online and offline sales channel with a simplified, data-driven, and affordable tool. Self-serve marketing platform like this allows SMEs to achieve their marketing goals easily with digital vouchers and PushAds. Offline retailers can also create and grow customer databases, increase foot traffic to their stores, and re-engage their customers through personalised SMSs and emails.

Tip 3: Get connected to a strategic partner for solutions beyond banking

Businesses need more than just traditional banking services to thrive in today’s increasingly complex and competitive landscape. As your business evolves, so do your needs. It can be challenging and time-consuming to source and implement new solutions that align with your strategic objectives, while running day-to-day operations.

That’s where UOB Business Banking comes in as your strategic partner, connecting you to scalable solutions that drive revenue growth and enhance productivity, while leveraging digital transformation to reduce operational cost. With the UOB SME app, you can view your cash flow with an interactive dashboard, get access to customised insights and events based on your industry, and book your preferred FX rate instantly through personalised watchlists and alerts to meet your business needs.

From advising you on your financial transactions, we also develop a close understanding of your industry, business goals, and challenges. To ensure that we are ever ready to support you with your business, UOB branches in Singapore have dedicated banking advisory, solutions and services for SMEs. Please speak with one of our Branch Managers if you need further advice on how to take your business further.

To boost your business productivity with UOB Business Banking today, reach out to us here.

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