- Bouncing back will require innovation in work processes, flexible work options and customised products and services
- Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Australia, and Thailand SMBs are the most confident of their ability to be innovative
HP Inc.’s latest study* on SMBs in Asia-Pacific, Survival to Revival, revealed that over 50% of SMB owners expect not just to survive but thrive following the pandemic, and feel that digital transformation will be a key part of this revival.
Some 60% of respondents see digital transformation as key with innovation in work processes, flexible work options and customised products and services identified as future strategies. However, cost-effective solutions are required given that cashflow remains top of mind and SMBs are unclear where to look, or even what suitable solutions are available. This is especially key where only four in 10 SMBs have a department or person responsible for innovation.
Specifically:
• Fifty-three percent of SMBs in Asia expect to thrive post-pandemic and 60% see digital transformation key to success
• SMB respondents in Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Australia, and Thailand are the most confident of their company’s ability to be innovative and see digital adoption as a key strategy
Indonesia sees the importance of digital to business success, with 74% of Indonesian respondents ranking it as 'essential' or 'very important' against regional average of 59% (India 75%; Vietnam 60%; Australia 58%; Thailand 75%)
• Japan, South Korea, and Singapore are more conservative about their predictions for the future, possibly based on the global nature of their economies. Japan sees the importance of digital to business success with 34% of Japanese respondents ranking it as 'essential' or 'very important' against regional average of 59%; (South Korea 43%; Singapore 50%)
That said, respondents also identified barriers to success. Forty-five percent cited global instability post-pandemic as a key concern due to the uncertainty and inability to plan for the future. Besides global instability, the top three barriers to success are cash flow (28%), the need for adequate marketing and recruitment.
“SMBs are the lifeblood of every economy in Asia but the pandemic has hit SMBs hard. As the engines of growth for Asia economies, it is critical for them to move past survival to revive their businesses,” said Ng Tian Chong, MD, Greater Asia at HP.
“This study provides us with the insights to provide practical help for SMBs so that they have access to an ecosystem of devices, tools and technology. With these resources, we want to help SMBs unlock innovation for customer and employee-centric experiences, as well as broadly upskill talent to rebound from the pandemic and prepare for the future.”
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| Source: HP. Infographic showing the Asian and Singapore figures for the Survival to Revival survey. |
Completed in June 2020, the study surveyed SMBs across Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam and found:
• SMB owners understand that bouncing back post-pandemic will require them to lean on innovation in how they work, flexible work options and customisation of products and services. The top aspects to help them best bounce back are:
- Workstyle innovations (27%),
- Flexible work options (26%),
- Innovation in products and services (25%),
- Better use of digital tools available (23%) and
- Digitalising processes (19%).
• Companies most confident of bouncing back place high importance on digital adoption
Across the region, nearly 60% view digital adoption as very important or essential. Indonesian SMBs are particularly sensitive to this need, with a full 74% believing it is essential or very important, as are Thai SMBs, also at 65%.
• Growth projections have been significantly adjusted post-pandemic.
Across the region, 46% of SMBs were expecting growth prior to the pandemic but that figure has dropped to just 16%. India and Vietnam are the most confident about post-pandemic growth and Singapore, Japan and South Korea are least positive.
• Disruption to productivity is a common experience during COVID.
Only 6% of SMBs recorded higher levels of workplace productivity compared to the pre-COVID period while 43% recorded lower productivity.
• Skills is an issue.
The pandemic amplified the lack of digital-first mindsets and skills within existing SMBs that hamper growth, affecting nearly half (44%) of respondents.
SMBs are looking for the magic hire, preferring to hire people who can fulfil multiple duties to optimise productivity. In this context, hiring and recruitment is incredibly difficult as the SMB is trying to find someone with a broad range of skills from a narrow pool of candidates. This is particularly an issue in Japan, Thailand and Vietnam where recruitment is one of the top three barriers to success. The education, financial services and healthcare verticals also cite recruitment as one of the top three barriers to success.
• SMBs are unclear on where to look for assistance.
Financial institutions, especially, rank high (31%); 60% of SMBs consider government support to be insufficient and/or are unclear on what support is available; only 19% of respondents turn to IT companies for help.
Underpinning all of this is a need to identify digital talents who can help SMBs to transform the business. The majority of SMBs do not dedicate resources and/or invest in innovation as a discipline; it is more common to ask customers what they want, or simply mirror what the competition is offering.
Further:
- Only four in 10 have a team or individual responsible for developing new products and service.
- One in five work with external specialists or consultants to foster innovation.
- One in five SMBs have customised offerings, looked for new sales and supply-chain channels, or introduced new lines of business.
Indonesia (59%) and Thailand (51%) stand out for having the highest percentage of SMBs dedicating resources to innovation. Unsurprisingly, SMBs in Indonesia and Thailand are also the most confident about business performance post-COVID.
Over half (54%) of SMBs see the pandemic as an opportunity to reformulate their business despite less bullish growth, with only 16% expecting growth post-COVID in 2021. To bounce back quickly from the pandemic, SMBs expect to increase usage of online meeting and digital tools and to migrate more processes to digital. Resources that can provide practical help on how to leverage digital technology to unlock innovation are a priority for rebounding from the pandemic most effectively, they said.
In response, HP is introducing integrated services-based print solutions, including an HP Roam for Business bundle, to make it easy to print on the go. Another solution for SMBs is the enhanced HP SecurePrint, a flexible, cloud-native solution that releases documents only to authorised users.
To support SMBs in adapting to new agile working environments, HP has introduced a suite of integrated services-based print solutions. HP is now offering a one-year license for HP Roam for Business with a compatible HP LaserJet Pro 400-series bought by 31 October 2020, making it easy to print on the go from a mobile device and to retrieve the job in a contactless manner at any HP Roam-enabled printer within the company network.
In addition, HP has enhanced HP SecurePrint, which now supports all network types, including traditional networks behind a firewall as well as serverless print environments, helping customers simplify IT infrastructures. To empower workers the HP Workpath ecosystem,which enables workers to connect to cloud-based platforms directly from the multifunction printers (MFP)**, has expanded rapidly since it launched in November 2019, with 100+ apps available on the platform and thousands of apps deployed.
To meet the demands of the SMB worker’s multitask, multiplace workday, HP PCs are designed to enable them to work anywhere. To ensure SMBs get ease of mind when working anywhere, HP is offering Sure Click Pro for free to all HP and non-HP Windows customers till September 30, 2020. HP Sure Click technology guards against malware, ransomware, and viruses embedded in email attachments or malicious websites.
HP is making it easy for SMBs to get their hands on the latest technology. Through initiatives like HP For Business in Thailand, HP has tailored a monthly subscription programme that includes powerful devices with trusted security and 24x7 technical support. The programme helps relieve financial pressures on entrepreneurs in the short term and takes care of their IT management needs.
Further, the HP LIFE programme offers free online self-paced training courses designed to help entrepreneurs and SMBs acquire new skills to grow their business, such as business communications, having a success mindset, social media marketing, and design thinking.
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Learn more about research highlights.
*The survey covered 1,600 SMBs which completed the survey between 26 May 2020 and 7 June 2020. The results comprise 200 interviews in Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Only an owner, partner, MD, CEO, COO, CFO, or a Director of a business with fewer than 200 employees qualified for the survey.
Interviews were split evenly between micro business (<10 employees), small business (10-49 employees), and medium business (50-199 employees).
Multiple industries were represented, including retail/wholesale, manufacturing, professional services, healthcare, education and financial services.
**Multifunction printers do more than just printing. Typically they will also scan and copy documents.
