Data could be your most important asset.

Digital disruption is happening everywhere in the business community, and it’s time to think about whether you can use it to your advantage to grow your business and boost profitability. Is your business digitally fit?

When we think of digital disruption and technology, the first thing many people consider is their smart phone or tablet or whether their business has a website and a social media presence. Box ticked, they think they’re on the right path and carry on their merry way.

Ensuring your business has a high level of digital fitness is a lot like personal fitness. When you sit down and consider the digital capacity of your business, you might not be up to scratch.

In business, information is one of our most valuable commodities. Thanks to the rapid advancements in online technologies, we collate more data than ever before and can use it to improve our operations.

Digitally, we monitor leads, sales, clients, inventory, supply chains, prices, productivity, time spent on tasks, revenue, clicks and opens, preferences, emails and much more.

Preparing for digital disruption and taking a good hard look at how digitally fit your business is could make a world of difference to your operations.

That could mean looking at new software to maximise your accounting procedures, ensuring your inventories are tracked more effectively or your payroll and human resources are managed more efficiently. You may need to consider how you store your files and backup your business data, and whether it’s on the cloud or elsewhere.

If you’re in retail, how much stock are you selling online? If you’re not selling online, by setting up online services, you could increase your markets in Australia and overseas. Channelling sales online could mean you spread your risk, reduce your bricks and mortar presence and save on overheads. Increasing your digital capabilities could allow some of your staff to work from home more often. It’s easy to stay in touch via email, phones and Skype. Remote working can also increase staff engagement and retention.

A Deloitte Access Economics report; Short Fuse Big Bang, suggested that if 10 per cent of Australian employees were allowed to telework half of the time, the total annual gains could be as high as $1.9 billion to the national economy annually.

Businesses can also operate machinery externally – whether it’s irrigation or mining equipment – digital technology is essential.

If you’re an SME, Business SA can help through its free Digital Champions program. Unless you’re considering how you can improve your operations through digital enhancement, using new software, leveraging off advancements in technology or moving with the online times, your business may be left behind in these digital days.

This article was originally published in the South Australian Business Journal on Tuesday 16 July 2019.

Martin Haese is chief executive of Business SA.