Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have always accounted for a 98% of South Africa’s business according to a report conducted by McKinsey and Company.
By Loubna Imenchal, vice-president and head of Logitech for Enterprise business AMECA at Logitech Africa Middle East Turkey Central Asia
Furthermore, 50% to 60% of the country’s workforce across all sectors are employed by SMES, and these businesses were responsible for a quarter of job growth in the private sector in 2020.
Over the last two years, these enterprises have faced an entirely new business landscape where customers prefer to interact online, and remote work is standard practice.
SMEs can adapt to the new business landscape:
A survey of almost 109 000 people in 190 countries found that 44% of South Africans favoured full-time work-from-home models. Thankfully, these work models can benefit SMEs in several ways, including travel costs, and saving on overheads, such as office space, water, electricity, and consumables.
In addition, more South African clients are spending time and money online. That means SMEs will need to meet this growing demand for larger-scale online and virtual operations and find ways to keep everyone connected, from customers to employees working remotely or in the office.
Since communication is the glue that holds business relationships together, video conferencing is a far more effective way to connect with employees and customers. This approach also allows SMEs to adapt quickly to challenges and enables employees to navigate minor hiccups, such as heavy commute traffic, a sick child at home, or flight cancellation.
Video conferencing offers greater productivity, lowers costs, and allows businesses to be more agile in the South African SME market, furthermore, allowing a global offering thanks to the world wide web.
The next chapter for connected SMEs
Combining traditional camera and microphone video conferencing solutions with all-in-one productivity solutions like the Logi Dock allows small businesses to seamlessly bridge the divide between on-premises team members and remote workers and clients.
Solutions like these simplify home office setups and in-office spaces. Most importantly, they create a collaborative ecosystem that helps workers feel more productive. They’re especially beneficial for SMEs that don’t have robust IT departments to help them develop custom-tailored solutions for their workforce to collaborate and connect more effectively with clients.
The hybrid global economy will continue to grow, evolve, and present new challenges. Fortunately, solutions like Logi Dock establish a level playing field so that smaller companies aren’t left behind and remote workers and clients aren’t stuck with second-class experiences.