Britain's small businesses are losing out on thousands of pounds every month due to a lack of online efficiency, new research has claimed.
A report by website maker Wix found that as much of £35,000 a month could be going to waste due to SMEs failing to follow even basic steps.
This includes the finding that 40 percent of British businesses still have no online presence and almost 1 in 3 (30 percent) that do have a website are still not completely digital.
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Surveying over 500 key figures at UK SMEs, the survey found that the businesses that are completely digital (using digital tools like invoicing and payments, customer service, chat, and automations etc) saw their revenues increase by an average of £35,000 a month.
This rise was predominantly credited to digital tools helping save both time and resources, freeing workers up for more profitable taks. However many firms still preferred to keep certain tasks offline, including customer service, administration, bookkeeping, payments and invoices, and marketing services.
When asked their biggest worry, over a third (38 percent) of the SMEs surveyed by Wix named Brexit and the state of the economy as their top concern, with only 18 percent saying maintaining the latest technology was their big fear.
“For an SME owner, moving your business online for marketing and management is good for exposure, productivity and efficiency, and the results will be evident on the business’ bottom line," said Matt Rosenberg, Director at Wix.
"SMEs in the UK would absolutely benefit to strive for peak efficiency and bringing their business operations fully online would do just that. The great news is that it’s easier than ever, even for small businesses, entrepreneurs and solopreneurs, to migrate their businesses to function fully online in a cost-effective manner.”
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