A presentation delivered at the Cyprus Univesrity of Technology in March 2019

1. Creating value through innovation
Opportunities for micro businesses in the digital age
Monica Ioannidou Polemitis, 2019

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AN EVER CHANGING INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

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3

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1970
TECHNOLOGY
CORE
MAINFRAMES
DISTRIBUTED
TERMINALS
CORE COMPUTING
1980
TECHNOLOGY
ENABLEMENT
OFFICE COMPUTING
MINI-COMPUTERS
WORD PROCESSING
SPREADSHEETS
HOME COMPUTING
1990
TECHNOLOGY
COLLABORATION
PC REVOLUTION
NETWORK
COMPUTING
EMAIL
RELATIONAL
DATABASES
CLIENT-SERVER
APPLICATIONS
2000
TECHNOLOGY
ENGAGEMENT
INTERNET
REVOLUTION
BROWSER WARS
CUSTOMER
ENGAGEMENT
INTRANET
APPLICATIONS
BROADBAND
2010
DIGITAL
MOBILE
CLOUD-COMPUTING
BIG DATA ANALYTICS
SOCIAL MEDIA
WEARABLES
2020
EXPONENTIAL
ARTIFICAL
INTELLIGENCE
SENSING
HOME AUTOMATION
DIGITIAL CARS
DIGITAL MONEY
QUANTUM COMPUTING
3D PRINTING /
MANUFACTURING
Technology eras are characterised by exponential growth and connectivity
Technology cycles

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Disruption comes from changes in consumer behavior, as well as technological and
business changes

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What has fundamentally changed over the past 20 years? What is going to change
over the next 15 years?

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New technologies enable improved user experience, op efficiency and new business
models
As disruptive companies leverage breakthroughs in cloud, mobile, social, and artificial
intelligence technology to deliver personalized, valuable, and immediate experiences,
customers have more choices than ever. As a result, they grow to expect this superior
experience from any business they engage with.

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Engagement
• In today's connected
world, it's all about
engagement. This
spills beyond social
comments and
shares, and into the
very core of how
humans prefer to
learn and
communicate. One-
way communication
is no longer
adequate.
Facilitation
• in the digital age,
secure transferring
and storing of
confidential
information is more
accessible than ever
before. Resulting in
a paradigm shift
within the leasing
industry.
Visibility
• Aiding to the
element of
engagement is the
advent of increased
visibility. Every
action a consumer,
or potential
consumer, makes
can be documented
and used to serve
them personalized
content.
Immediacy
• Human's carnal
desire for instant
gratification has only
proved to grow with
the widespread
connectivity of the
digital age.
Millennials are
conditioned to give
and receive feedback
immediately. That
can clearly be seen
by their seemingly
inherent social
media prowess.
Four ways the digital age has transformed traditional business models

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THE CHALLENGE

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In today’s digitally-driven economy, many consumers now expect to be able to engage
with businesses through online channels
Running a small to medium business in
the digital age isn’t easy. The market
is changing at an extraordinary
speed, customers are increasingly
harder to please and there’s an
abundance of digital tools available.
It’s easy to understand why many find
it overwhelming to shift direction
and set-up their businesses for future
success.
changing
customer expectations
#1 key perceived
threat

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Source: Saleseforce research

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Connected
journeys –
break down
silos
Personali-
zation –
treated as an
individual
Innovation –
keep pushing
to the limits
Trust – data
protection
What are they looking for?

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• How do I listen to what my customers are saying? Do you have regular ‘listening posts’ to hear the good as
well as the bad in a qualitative sense?
• What problem you are solving for the customer?
• How many customers have that problem?
• Where do those customers hang out (and how do they want to interact with you)?
• What will it cost to find them?
Understand what your customers want
Ask yourself these questions
Customers are the lifeblood of a small
business – it’s imperative that we’re listening
to them and responding to their needs.

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Why are small businesses not embracing the digital age?
The issues are actually much simpler: Many small businesses are not aware of the benefits of the
internet and other digital tools.
Top three digital barriers:
• “Digital tools are not relevant for my business”
• “Digital tools are not effective for my business”
• Privacy and security concerns
 inadequate broadband?
 lack of technical skills?
 huge financial barriers to investing in technology?
For small and medium size business
owners, the perceived cost, time and
tech-proficiency required for building a
digital presence can feel like an
insurmountable obstacle. But it doesn’t
have to be.
Jack Forestell, chief product officer, Visa Inc.
“
”

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Cloud technology has levelled the playing field – it’s no longer those with the biggest budgets that have
exclusive access to the advantages of technology. Digital enables organisations to elevate their capabilities to
compete with larger resourced competitors.
However, now that access is easily available, a decision not to invest in digital tools might leave
a business behind. When your company is small, you might be able to get away with using manual
processes and spreadsheets, but there comes a point when such practices limit your ability to grow, meet
customer needs and operate in an efficient manner.
To invest or not to invest?
78% of small businesses aren’t personalising
their marketing content, and a staggering 70%
are still using basic methods of recording and
analysing customer interactions.

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THE OPPORTUNITY

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The digital age has opened up a wave of potential, and small
businesses are in the prime position to capitalise.
They are agile, they have the ability to pivot and change quickly, and
they are not hampered by bureaucracy – they just need to seize the
opportunity.

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Technology as a driver for growth
• With online tools, businesses have greater insight into customer preferences, and build lasting
relationships with them. Using digital tools such as online and e-commerce marketing methods can benefit
small business.
• Small businesses can access new markets and target new customers at a relatively affordable
cost using digital tools. Digitally advanced small businesses:
Earned two times as much revenue per employee
Experienced revenue growth over the previous year that was nearly four times as high
Were almost three times as likely to be creating jobs over the previous year
Had an average employment growth rate that was more than six times as high
Were also three times as likely to have exported over the previous year
In today’s digitally driven economy

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Digital Presence
Consumer purchasing behaviour is
driven in part by websites and
online experiences. 0201
Digital Payments Improves
Profitability
Visa estimates that the SMBs’ average
cost of processing digital payments,
inclusive of direct expenses and
labour costs, is 57 percent less than
that of non-digital payments.
Further, 65 percent of SMBs agree
customers spend more when they use
cards versus cash.
03
Offers & Loyalty
Consumers are more likely to choose
a business that offers a loyalty
program over one that does not.
Many examine loyalty programs prior
to shopping at a store, visiting a
restaurant, or trying out a service.
A vast majority of consumers prefers
a digitally based loyalty program
compared to a paper-based stamp or
punch card.
Three strategies for consumer engagement

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GETTING AHEAD IN THE DIGITAL AGE

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Digitization
An accelerating opportunity
A misconception about digital transformation is that it simply means digitizing the current way the business
is run and how it interacts with others.
But the opportunity for innovation is much greater.
Take, for instance, the opportunities for digital customer engagement: It is not simply a matter of digitizing
the existing touchpoints, but about reimagining new levels and methods of engagement to get closer to the
customer.
In the same way, digital transformation is about moving from being a traditional organization that initiates
digital projects to being a digital organization with an integrated strategy that puts digital at its core.

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Where do we begin?
Start with a vision of where you want to go, then start small with a focus on digitising existing value
streams. You don’t need to completely digitise the business overnight.
Start thinking about data management. New technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT, are poised
to push business forward in a big way. But, a business’ ability to leverage these technologies will entirely
depend on the quality of its data. While AI might seem like a quantum digital leap, good data management
practices will go a long way in setting your business up for the future.

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