Can SMEs compete with big brands online?

Small to mid-sized organisations must be bold in adopting a ‘big brand’ mentality towards their website to successfully compete against larger organisations. Will Morris, managing partner at Alchemy Digital, explains that while websites have revolutionised the way business is done, SMEs must remain nimble and respond to market trends to stay ahead of the curve in a crowded marketplace.

“Websites have changed the face of business and levelled the playing field for SMEs. Having an effective online platform has enabled SMEs to compete with the larger players in their respective industries and provide a window to market their solutions to prospective customers. But to capitalise on this, many have had to adopt a mind-set much larger than their organisation, and one that matches a large business mentality.”

By their very organisational structure, SMEs can capitalise on going through fewer approval processes, enabling them to respond faster to market trends in comparison to larger organisations, and as a result reap in the rewards, says Morris.

“Taking risks and being innovative in their approaches to websites will be help stay ahead of their competitors. It’s important in our understanding that these processes often helped revolutionise many of the SMEs in to some of the large businesses in operations today.”

However, SMEs’ pursuit to hit the ground running with a digital strategy can often mean less preparation time and investment is spent on websites.

Websites offer a quicker route to market than previously accessible for SMEs but at the same time, being too quick in developing a website can be risky, warns Morris. For some SMEs who often have limited budgets and are more focussed towards day-to-day operations, websites can be overlooked.

“Templated sites can offer a lucrative initial starting point but are essentially small in nature – unable to upscale to business operations. This can often result in a site offering a poor user experience and result in SMEs falling behind more established organisations,” he says. “A choice piece of advice would be to invest both time and money from the start and ditch template sites. Adopting a smart digital strategy can help develop a better understanding about your users, knowing what they want and how you can better market your products or services to those users. Not only can you expertly craft your story, but it will be more effective in responding to your customers even years down the line.”