LeanBPI: Driving digital transformation for SME businesses in Ireland

For over a decade, LeanBPI has been a key player in helping Irish SMEs to integrate digital solutions for improved business efficiency. Their technical team excels at providing bespoke solutions to meet diverse customer needs, ensuring that even the smallest businesses can benefit from digital advancements.

Navigating digital transformation and overcoming the barriers
Historically digital transformation has been undertaken by larger enterprises, leaving a gap in understanding the needs of smaller businesses. As a small business owner, the idea of implementing new technologies might seem daunting. Many owners face individual challenges which can hinder any significant change, and decision-making around new technology investments can be particularly difficult. There are specific inhibitors when it comes to digital transformation for small businesses, including lack of knowledge of new technologies, perceived high costs to implement the new technology, time investment involved in staff training, and the fear of failure.

On the flip side, the four significant enablers of digital transformation for these companies are the business owner’s progressive mindset, industry consultants/mentors support, available training programs, and informal business network exchanges. There are varying levels of digital readiness within small businesses in Ireland when we consider the owner’s mindset, which includes their growth mindset as well as their technology mindset. Small business owners hold the keys to digital transformation. Their mindset sets the tone for their organisation’s drive to implement and sustain digital initiatives. Fostering an optimistic and progressive outlook revolutionises the digital evolution of their business.

Introducing the Digital Readiness Assessment
To support the digital transformation journey, LeanBPI has launched the Digital Readiness Assessment, a tool designed to evaluate the digital readiness of micro and small business leaders in Ireland. This assessment helps small businesses understand their current digital capabilities and guides them in adopting a suitable strategy for the integration of digital technologies.

John O’Shanahan, Managing Director of LeanBPI, emphasised the importance of this initiative: “Small businesses form a significant part of our national workforce and economy. However, many are not reaching their full potential due to a lack of digital systems. By helping these businesses leverage technology, we are modernising microenterprises across Ireland, fostering their growth and contributing to our economy.”

Partnering with Local Enterprise Offices
LeanBPI collaborates with Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) across Ireland to roll out the Digital Readiness Assessment. This partnership ensures a comprehensive evaluation of the digital readiness of small and micro business owners and decision-makers. The assessment measures various factors such as optimism, innovation, discomfort, and insecurity regarding digital change and growth.

The results categorise participants into profiles ranging from ‘Explorer’ to ‘Avoider’, enabling LeanBPI to provide tailored, actionable plans for integrating digital tools and strategies effectively.

Empowering Small Businesses with Digital Solutions
The Digital for Business program, a pilot initiative launched in 2022 through Local Enterprise Offices, initially focused on small manufacturers. It has been running on a trial basis to provide these businesses with a digital edge, optimising processes and delivering a seamless digital customer experience. Given its success, the program is in the process of being expanded to include all businesses with up to 50 employees. This expansion aims to ensure that a wider range of small businesses, can benefit from digital transformation. LeanBPI’s efforts, in conjunction with the Digital for Business program (fully funded by LEOs) aim to give small businesses a competitive edge. This program supports optimising processes and delivering a seamless digital customer experience, ensuring that small businesses can thrive in a digital age.

For SME business owners, embracing digital transformation with LeanBPI’s expertise and support can unlock new growth opportunities and ensure long-term success in an increasingly digital marketplace.

For further information visit www.leanbpi.ie or contact John O’Shanahan at johnoshanahan@leanbpi.ie, 087 7444887.

This Business Support article featured in the July/August 2024 issue of The Hardware Journal.