How do you tackle digitalisation as an SME?
Most digitalisation projects don't fail because of the software chosen, but because nobody is steering. If you start from a tool instead of the problem, you build something nobody uses. This approach starts from where it really pinches.
Jan and Walter, from first conversation to delivery.
From the problem to execution.
Four steps you go through in order. Each step builds on the previous one, so you only choose software once you know what it's for.
Start with the problem and map how you work
Before you look at a package, it's better to know where you lose time today. Where do people have to type in the same data twice, where is an order waiting for an approval that goes round by email, and which customer question costs your team half an hour of searching every time? Choose one concrete goal you want to reach within a few months, for example a quote that goes out in one day instead of three. Then map how you work today, because most companies know less about their own processes than they think. Follow an order or a file from start to finish and write down which steps really happen, who does them and where things get stuck. Look too at the emails that are really a process, and at the Excel files everyone leaves alone because nobody remembers how they work. That map doesn't have to be pretty; it has to be right. It shows what you want to keep and what you want to change before you buy a single line of software.
Make a plan with an order and a price
A good plan doesn't just say what needs to happen, but also in what order and roughly what each step costs. Start with the step that delivers the most or gets in the way the most, and build on from there. Put it on paper in language your team understands and your partners respect, without jargon only the supplier understands. That way you can decide at any moment to carry on or wait, and you know where the money is going before you spend it.
A plan with an order isn't paperwork. It's what gives you the peace of mind to stop when the timing isn't right and pick it up again later.
JanInvolve your people from the start
Technology only works once your team can handle it. The people who use the system every day are the first to know where it pinches, so ask them to think along before anything is fixed. Explain why something is changing and what it gives them, not just what they have to do differently. Allow time to practise and someone to field questions in the first weeks. A package nobody uses is more expensive than no package.
Carry it out with someone at the wheel
As soon as several partners are working on it, you need someone who guards the whole. One point of contact who keeps track of the planning, one report that says where things stand and one place where decisions get made. Without that role, partners point at each other as soon as something goes wrong and the scope quietly disappears. That someone can be your internal project lead, or an external party that steers the partners so they deliver as one team, as in our approach. What matters is that the role is filled, not by whom.
Questions that often come up about digitalisation.
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Do I need to choose software first?
No. Start with the problem you want to solve and the order in which you tackle it. The choice of software follows from that. If you work the other way round, you buy a package and then try to squeeze your way of working into it. That costs more time and money than first knowing what you need.
How long does digitalisation take for an SME?
That depends on the size, but for a concrete project count on a few months to about a year. Work in phases of three to six months with a clear result per phase, instead of in one big two-year project. That way you see early whether you're on the right track, and after each phase you can decide to carry on or adjust course.
What does digitalisation cost for an SME?
There's no fixed amount, because it depends on what you want to achieve and which systems are already in place. Don't just look at the licence or development cost, but also at your own team's time and at the maintenance afterwards. A plan with an order lets you start with the step that delivers the most and spread the rest, so the cost grows along with what it brings you.
Do I need an external party?
Not always. If you have one partner and someone internally with the time and knowledge to steer them, you can do it yourself. As soon as several partners have to deliver something together and nobody has the overview, an external party to orchestrate is often the difference between a project that moves forward and one that stalls. If you choose outside help, look for independent guidance, so the advice you get isn't tied to a package someone wants to sell you. The question isn't whether you need help, but whether the orchestrating role is filled internally.
Take the free quickscan and within ten minutes you'll know where it pinches.