AUTOMATION AND DIGITALISATION
How thinking digital can help you weather the impact of the continuing pandemic South Africa recently entered its fourth wave, as a result of Omicron. This compounded with the issue of supply-chain disruption caused by the worldwide pandemic has many businesses feeling uncertain. Sam Clarke, CEO at Skynamo, a customer relationship management (CRM) mobile app for field sales teams, says that now is the time for local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to tap into their entrepreneurial spirit to weather the storm once more. “SMEs are creative and resilient by nature. This, combined with being armed with learnings into account from the previous COVID waves, means that businesses may now be better prepared.”
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o illustrate how businesses can survive the fourth wave, Clarke highlights Skynamo customer, Upat South Africa, a supplier of power tools and spirit levels to the construction and mining industry.
TAKE NOTE OF CUSTOMERS’ NEEDS AND THINK DIGITAL For Upat SA, the first three months of hard lockdown (April to June 2020) were hard. However, the company took into account that the needs and interests of their clients had changed and after changing their focus, to date the business has grown 25% year-on-year. “DIY has become very fashionable,” says Charl Weber, national product specialist at Upat SA. “With many people working from home, they don’t have as many travel expenses, and some people had more money to spend,” Recognising this trend, the company started putting together DIY videos to inspire its customers. “We are building a 300m2 metre facility to record YouTube videos, as well as invested heavily in social media marketing as people were spending a lot more time online,” he says, adding that the company’s marketing team has tripled in size this year.
THERE IS LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL Upat SA is upbeat about the economy’s prospects this year. Weber’s advice for SMEs who are currently struggling with the disruption in supply chains is to allow plenty of time for delivery, and when they buy, to
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INDUSTRIAL BUYER JANUARY 2022
‘SMEs are creative and resilient by nature. This, combined with being armed with learnings into account from the previous COVID waves, means that businesses may now be better prepared’ purchase in bulk and have enough stock. “The people who have stock can sell, it’s that simple” he says. His other top tip is for retailers to do as much online marketing as possible.
“People feel much more comfortable buying online post-COVID,” he says, “so do your best to take advantage of it.” “It is important for local SMEs to try to remain positive and tap into their resilience over the upcoming months,” says Clarke. “Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, and resilient people are good at harnessing their inner strengths and resources so they can bounce back quickly and fully from setbacks. I have witnessed this in action from many of our clients, and it is important for all entrepreneurs to know that no matter what, there will be light at the end of the tunnel,” concludes Clarke. Skynamo www.skynamo.com
