// PREDICTIVE INTELLIGENCE //

IMPROVING EFFICIENCIES ACROSS YOUR WORKFORCE WILL HELP STREAMLINE WORKLOADS AND IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY.

company that are crucial to success. For example, without a healthy cash flow, payments to suppliers could easily be delayed. Not only can this put a strain on relationships, but it can disrupt the entire supply chain, particularly if they refuse to extend credit terms or withhold good deals or discounts in the future.

Additionally, cash flows are being impacted predominantly by inefficiencies, and just over half say they spend up to six hours a week managing costs and their cash flow. This means that businesses are losing a fifth of their working week, which is a significant loss when they should instead be focusing on growing the business, investing their time into bolstering their bottom line. This is more important than ever in the current climate of high costs, inflation, global economic impact and recruitment challenges that all contribute to making it harder to manage operational costs.

There is hope, however, with business owners already having a good understanding of some of the factors that could ease these pressures; more than a quarter( 28 %) said that faster payment of invoices is the key to helping their business save time, and 27 % say it would solve admin and cash flow problems.

Keeping cash flowing

Burdened with a daily onslaught of challenges including cash flow management, SME owners are on the lookout for little wins that make their lives easier by removing points of friction and prioritising simplification.

This can take many forms, and what will work best for one company might not be the same for another, but there are certain tools or practices that help. For example, cutting out non-essential costs. The saying of‘ look

26 Intelligent SME. tech