As your small business looks to scale and grow, tech can play a pivotal role in helping you identify opportunities and analyse the right areas in which to advance. You can also network to market your company to a broader customer base, to better fulfil orders and ensure you remain in touch with clients. In this episode, we share some real-life examples of tech in action.
This episode is the third in our three-part series brought to you in partnership with Dell Technologies.
Guests: Andy Bone and Jason Crawford, Solutions Specialists at Dell Technologies
As your small business looks to scale and grow, tech can play a pivotal role in helping you identify opportunities and analyse the right areas in which to advance. You can also network to market your company to a broader customer base, to better fulfil orders and ensure you remain in touch with clients. In this episode, we share some real-life examples of tech in action.
This episode is the third in our three-part series brought to you in partnership with Dell Technologies.
Guests: Andy Bone and Jason Crawford, Solutions Specialists at Dell Technologies
This episode is in partnership with Dell Technologies. Dell can help push your business further, with innovative technology designed for small business. Visit dell.co.uk.
Jon Watkins:Welcome to this latest edition of the FSB podcast, the go-to podcast for news, tips and important information for small businesses and the self-employed. This episode is the third in our three-part series brought to you in partnership with Dell Technologies to explore the ways in which technology can help small businesses innovate, improve, and advance. And this third episode is titled: How technology can help your small business grow, scale and evolve. As small businesses look to scale and grow, tech can play a pivotal role in helping them identify opportunities, analyse the right areas in which to advance and develop, to network to market themselves to a broader customer base, to better fulfil orders and ensure they remain personal and in touch with clients even though they are growing. So there's lots and lots of opportunities to scale, and tech can play an increasing role in helping you do that. So in this episode, we'll explore the role of tech in helping you scale and grow your business. And we'll also share some real-life examples of tech in action. To help us do that, I'm joined once again by Dell Technologies experts, Andy Bone and Jason Crawford, who will share that expertise on this matter, as well as those examples I just mentioned. Andy, Jason, good to be with you again.
Jason Crawford:Oh, it's great to be back with you. We've had a very, very busy week, haven't we Andy?
Andy Bone:Indeed we have, good morning, Jon. We've actually been with the small business community, with the Women's Entrepreneur Networks this week at ExCeL. So it's been quite an exciting week. So hopefully, we'll be able to pass on that information and stories that we've actually picked up on during this podcast.
Jon Watkins:Yes, brilliant, hopefully, we can share some of the examples of tech in action for those businesses, because I think that's what really helps our audience. Let's start though, by talking about what we mean, when we say that technology can help small businesses scale and grow. I mean, I listed a stack of examples there in the intro, but can you guys sort of elaborate on the ways and the role that tech plays in helping businesses grow.
Jason Crawford:I think it's looking back at where someone's business starts. Very much, it might just be from your home, perhaps, and you've just started off on your own premises, and you've come up with a great idea, and you want to sell it to someone. And that first scale can just be as simple as an email. And that might be an email to your phone. But eventually, as more people get to know about you, and more people know what you do, that obviously is going to increase on loads and stress on yourself to actually maintain and look after those orders. So you may actually have to look at putting systems in place. And that's where Dell can help. Because we can put the bit of tiny bit of infrastructure in place, and then make sure that you've got the right storage and the right capacity to deal and respond with the customers in the best way. And so it can be a challenge. But we obviously do have the teams and advisors to be able to discuss through that individual business's need.
Jon Watkins:Andy, anything to add on that?
Andy Bone:Um yes, I mean, that initial scale, an interesting scenario, you know, we've come across it in the small business community again this week. And it's about actually, the person or the business might just be an idea, it might be in its infancy stage, it might be a startup. With technology, that can be made a reality iterally from the design of the product, or the design of the service, that's actually going to be put to market by the small business. Now that can be done on the tech side, it can actually be brought to life - it can be visualised to life by by that technology. You know, it's a simple thing that technology can do. But it is a scale up from nothing to that point where, you know, you might be looking for investors, so you can actually put the vision of that product or that service to them. So yeah, I mean, scale-up can be on many different levels. And I think in the small business arena, that's probably the first step that a lot of people are going to do.
Jon Watkins:Yeah, let's dig a bit deeper into some of those specifics. I mean, we live in this world of data now, you know, how exactly can it help you grow and scale through things like marketing that leverages data or, you know, sort of planning your stock orders and seeing what's coming down the line, that sort of thing?
Jason Crawford:Having the data is the key part to that having the space to actually store that and actually store that information securely, because that's one of the big concerns when it comes to marketing is that we keep in line with GDPR and make sure that that customer data is kept close to us otherwise we might land in trouble with the Information Commissioner's Office. And we've seen many examples of that not just in small scale but in large scale. And the fines can be pretty hefty. So when it comes to marketing, obviously, there's many platforms that we're looking at when it comes to using that data. So you may actually have, for example, Dell do it in a bigger scale, we had a QR code at our stand the other day that people can come along and scan, and then tie in with us directly. And obviously, we need to pull that data in and try and make a personal reply from it. Some of that is actually AI to start with, before we actually engage directly with a full customer conversation.
Andy Bone:Yeah, I think data is all about, it's like filling a bath, if you're like, you know, we've got a lot of water in there. But what we're going to do with it, you know, how we're going to divide it into, into useful chunks, if you like. And I think that's, that's something that there are a lot of tools out there that small business communities can use. And, you know, it's looking around and finding those tools. At Dell we make the hardware that data is driven around, and and stored with. But you know, the tools that you require, there are many, many things in the marketplace. So the data itself, we can extract information that will enable you to automate your processes to actually maybe send emails out to the customer bases, a simple personal relationship manager or CRM, you know, that's probably a real crucial part of any organisation's structure. At Dell, we use the mighty Salesforce, for example, that's our, our CRM database that we've used for for many years. In fact, we help the startup of that organisation as well. So you know, it's all interlinked, that you know, the data that we collate today and use from our CRM is, you know, we helped develop the systems actually drive a lot of the large world's largest organisations for that Salesforce organisation.
Jon Watkins:Yeah, and that's a big part for organisations that are looking to scale and grow, isn't it using that data, leveraging it to be more personal with your audience to connect directly with them, you know, those marketing messages that give you the reach to, to scale and grow are really important. Another area you you touched on, there was sort of processes and automation. We've talked a fair bit about this, in this series. And for audience members that that haven't heard those, you can go back and and listen to those by by visiting the First Voice website. And listening to our first two episodes, we've talked about those quite a lot. But this is another good example of that, isn't it? How sort of process and automation can I guess, free up time, for example, for small business owners to go and grow and scale?
Jason Crawford:It certainly is. And as Andy and I always say...
Andy Bone:...time is the most precious commodity that we own I'm afraid. It's not purchasable, you can't get it back, you can't swap it, it's ticking away. So we've got to use it wisely. And we've got to make the best of it.
Jason Crawford:And if we don't have the right technology in place to do that, we are going to suffer. Even technology that's just two, maybe even three years old, that's where we start to see the change. So that's really what sort of timescale a lot of people should be looking at, at refreshing their technology. I know a lot of people out there listening will be shocked, because they're probably sitting on 8-10 year old laptops, and I know they work, they get the job done. But again, it's about that whole car scenario; is about getting you from A to B, have you got the slow, old banger? Or have you got the fast new sports car, what's going to get you there faster, it doesn't need to be at the very top end, don't worry. And they say a mid-range car will be great for any small business. But just having that more modern technology available to us means that we can save on those moments that we have,
those:Oh, nice cup of tea while the screen loads in, and things like that, then I'm sure many people have had that pinpoint on the sessions before.
Jon Watkins:Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, thinking about sort of time that you've freed up to go and grow your business, you're reaching potential new audiences with your, you know, your tailored markets in leveraging that data and so on. Networking is a big thing we hear a lot about these days, very important for small businesses, as well, technology can can help that as well can it?
Andy Bone:Ah indeed, again, that's one of the conversations that I was listening to this week. So it's quite, quite poignant. In fact, networking is the second most important after word of mouth actually, so that connection from your current customers, that word of mouth connection is the most strongest. And if you keep your current customers happy, that word of mouth is obviously something that can grow and thrive. The next part is that network and that's the second part of growing any organisation. There are lots of great networking organisations out there. And as I mentioned earlier in the in the session, we actually were part of the networking scenario yesterday with the Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network. So now that's something that's free to join. So if anyone would like to just look for that, so online, it's Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network, DWEN - it's quite simple to find. We've been running that for over 10 years so a decade in the making. It's global so it's a massive organisation, not just for small businesses for global leaders, and even, you know, anyone who's thinking about starting a business. So it's a great place to start in the networking arena there. But there are many, many more and again, with yourselves, you have your own networking circles as well, I think, joining as many as possible and getting as much feedback ideas, it might be just looking at people's strengths, or you know, you might have some weaknesses that you want to overcome, and you're not quite sure how to do it, it's really finding all those answers you like in the networking circles. And it's much it's much, much easier because there are people just like, just like us everywhere. So you know, you're not on your
Jason Crawford:I think you're right, Andy, and the last bit I own basically. would add on to that is the, that sort of hybrid of the different ways of networking isn't what it used to be traditionally, and just all event based, there is all that online, different virtual events come up. And of course, these podcasts, we don't mind people reaching out to us as well over LinkedIn, and just getting in touch. But it does make a really big difference, because it's that accessibility to people that you might not have got before it, because not everyone will travel to the big events, it's not always going to be the case. So you need to have a little bit of a hybrid thinking, when it comes to the way that you put your marketing out
Jon Watkins:And that's a really interesting point about sort of
Andy Bone:And I think we've we've talked about it quite a there. lot with them with technology, modern technology, so the camera, the audio; your microphones, if that isn't a decent quality, that's your handshake in this virtual world. So if you're not actually on top of that game, you know, you're really not making a good first impression. So it's really important that we we think about those little details. It's like when we first meet a customer, or when you go to purchase something from from a supplier, you know, it's that feeling it's that bonding, if we don't get that bonding straightaway, you know that that opportunity may may might just not not materialise. perceptions of your business and how well you are evolving. And modernising. You know, is that a part of this that, you know, we've talked about some real sort of specific objectives like you might want to use tech to improve your marketing, you might want to use it to network, you might want to use it to make your operations more streamlined, right. But actually, is there also a point here that it just makes good business sense to modernise and increasingly rely on technology to have a smoother running business that also comes across as more professional and more modern to your clients and potential clients? I think technology first is really the big key messaging, even across larger organisations, technology first, alongside people, it's really crucial that that is is looked at in depth for that digital transformation that people need to go down. If you get left behind, you know, there are people that are just going to take your business away. And that's unfortunately, that's the way of the technology revolution nowadays.
Jon Watkins:Yeah, I agree. And I said that we'd share some examples with our audience. And it's really useful for them to sort of hear firsthand examples of how our businesses have deployed tech to evolve or grow or modernise. Could you share an example or two with us of businesses, either that you've worked with or that you're just familiar with?
Jason Crawford:Yeah, I can, I wouldn't use their name but I can give you a description of the business just in case they felt a bit private about their tech, I have consulted a bit on it. But we actually have a small, locally grown fruit and veg operation that actually grows in wastelands in Glasgow and outside in Livingston as well. And they just started off just selling essentially directly, from freshly grown veg nearby. Now, they've actually scaled so far up, they do veg boxes that get distributed across all of the central area of Scotland, I think that will expand a good bit more. And they now have a couple of supermarkets that even now have their own brand, all over their tinned food, and all their fresh and sustainable products. That is a huge growth. And it was only a relatively short period of time just over the last 10 years. But I can't think of anything more of an example, especially in these times where we're looking at sustainability and making sure that we get fresh product to people's hands, where there's something that has grown like that. But technology, of course has helped them because they've had to think about everything they've had to think about distribution, they've had to then think about what's my retail outlook going to be like, how am I actually making sure my stock and inventory is kept track of. Also as well, the EPOS systems at the tills in the supermarkets as well, it is an interesting one because it doesn't always need to be the big boys, it doesn't need to be the big operations. If you have a great idea like that, and it has great marketing and messaging, it has all the design qualities and something that sits well with people, then people will start using that. And if you've got the tech behind it to support it to make that easy for people to get access to you, and be able to order a product or be able to buy it from the store, then that makes it a rather exciting opportunity.
Jon Watkins:Yes, great example. And anything to add on that.
Andy Bone:Um, it's quite interesting, actually, to talk to you about growing and and I think yes, one of our sort of case studies that we look at, it's called be Beevive and Beevive was an idea that generated a few years ago, with a young couple that found a pretty exhausted bee. And you know, how do you revive an exhausted bee? So from that little moment in time, basically, they now created this bee revival kit that will aid bees to, to fly and grow and, and basically to protect them. And that story as basically now created a worldwide community. And that's where the technology has helped because without technology that worldwide community wouldn't have been able to expand. So it's protecting protects the environment across the globe, so that I think there's over 29,000 members in that community of the Beevive community. So it's really, really important. And again, it's a part of that sustainability thing. That's I think we're we're very passionate about at Dell.
Jon Watkins:Yeah, now, so absolutely shows how you can achieve that reach and networking and community feel powered, again, by by technology. So it's really, really good example. Look, you know, we've tried throughout this long series of podcasts not to shirk, the question around cost and investment in technology is a cost for small businesses. And they are under huge pressure at the moment, obviously, from the rising cost of doing business and all the other inflationary pressures and rate rises that we're seeing at the moment. So, you know, can you tell us a little bit about what an investment in tech to achieve these types of things might look like for small businesses. And, you know, I understand from our previous discussions, there are options around how to buy that it's not necessarily a one-off outlay.
Andy Bone:Yeah, I'm just gonna let you talk to Jason. But I just wanted to add, one of my biggest passions is that technology is like an employee. And it's really important that we treat it like that it's a case of you would not hire a substandard employee or an employee that couldn't quite fulfil everything he wanted from from it. So it's really important that you take that standpoint, from from from moment one. And we have got some great ways to help you do that.
Jason Crawford:Yeah, we do have a team of Dell Tech Advisors to be able to help with those conversations too, because one of the one of the first things I'll address is not even just the financing itself to get the product. But what are the changes going to be when you replace your older product with new product? The power consumption of processors, the power consumption of our systems themselves, has dropped drastically. In these scary times when we're looking at some of our bills, that can immediately be an advanced saving straight out of the box, making sure that you're not taking as much out of the plug socket itself. The next bit that you have mentioned towards them, we have mentioned this on the sessions before is Dell has its own bank, we have a team called Dell Financial Services, they can help with businesses acquiring their products. Now, what that does is they can actually look at doing more of a sort of PC as a service model, which basically means that you're actually able to get the system and then have a programme in place for refreshing it as you want and need. So there's all sorts of options out there within that; I'm not going to deep dive into them, because I could talk about our financial services for many hours. But the big benefit from it is that it changes your operational expenditure from that initial capital expenditure to an operational expenditure, just meaning that then you can know what it's going to cost you every month for your tech to be running, whether that just be some laptops, or whether it's a laptops and a server, or even beyond as you grow. And it can definitely help you with scaling. And it can also help lock in prices at current preferential rates as well, because that's one of the things that's certainly been a challenge recently, and I know we're all facing that at the moment.
Jon Watkins:Yes and I think that's a big a big deal for small businesses right now is been able to have a true picture of, of what that expenditure might look like into the into the future. Right. Andy, Jason, thank you so much. That was that was really great and you know, will definitely help small business owners understand a bit more about how they can leverage the potential of tech to grow, scale and evolve their businesses even in these difficult times. As I say that was the third in our three-part series of podcasts, looking at how technology can help you innovate, improve and advance your business brought to you in partnership with Dell Technologies. If you haven't caught the previous two, or if you have and would like a recap, then you can you just need to visit firstvoice.org.uk and click the Knowledge Hub button on the menu bar, and they will appear in the drop down for you. And to ensure that you don't miss out on other podcasts from us I would just like to remind you that you can also subscribe to the FSB podcast to receive regular updates and guidance on the big issues affecting small businesses. And do please also remember that you can find a whole host of additional webinars, podcasts and other content at firstvoice.org.uk and on the FSB website at fsb.org.uk Many thanks for listening.
Sponsored introduction:This episode is in partnership with Dell Technologies, Dell can help push your business further. With innovative technology designed for small business, visit dell.co.uk